


What Died Didn’t Stay Dead

by ameanstoanendor



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, CC-2224 | Cody Needs a Hug, CT-7567 | Rex Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Force Ghost Qui-Gon Jinn, Gen, Ghost!Rex, Ghosts, Irregular Updates btw, Paranormal, Pong Krell is the worst, Umbara Arc (Star Wars: Clone Wars), eventually, right now everyone is really sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29148270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameanstoanendor/pseuds/ameanstoanendor
Summary: The 501st suffered a devastating blow on Umbara with the loss of Captain Rex at the hands of Pong Krell.Rex doesn’t understand why he’s still around  after having died, but he realizes that he might be able to use this to the advantage of all of his brothers.Or: Rex is a ghost, and he’s just as confused about it as everyone else is.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 137
Kudos: 190





	1. Introduction

Cody had had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach ever since the battles on Umbara began, but it had only worsened when their comms that connected them to the 501st were sabotaged. 

The battle had finally worn down, although it was not completely over, and the 212th was heading to the airbase the 501st was stationed at after receiving word that they had successfully taken the base, but they needed the general there immediately. 

Upon arrival, the pit in Cody’s stomach grew when he didn’t see Rex coming to greet them. Instead, he saw Fives and Jesse approaching to greet him and General Kenobi. 

The pair removed their helmets as they approached, and they certainly looked worse for wear. Both had dark bruises under their eyes and looked utterly defeated. Every 501st soldier nearby was carrying themselves similarly.

“Fives, Jesse. It’s good to see you. What happened here, exactly? Where’s Captain Rex? And General Krell?” Obi-Wan asked from Cody’s side. He and Cody exchanged glances, obviously sensing the unease in the men as well. 

Fives and Jesse looked at each other and were silent for a few moments. Cody grew more nauseous each second it took them to respond.

Finally, Jesse took a deep breath and replied, “Sirs, Captain Rex was killed in action.” 

Cody’s knees nearly buckled from under him. He wanted to throw up. Rex couldn’t be dead; that couldn’t be true. This was all a nightmare, a fever dream, nothing more, and he’d wake up soon and find a message from Rex telling him about the 501st’s latest antics. He felt numb as Obi-Wan laid a steadying hand on his shoulder. He flinched violently at the contact, but no one commented on it.

Obi-Wan cleared his throat and spoke, “I... I see. And General Krell?”

“He... we had to... he betrayed us, sir. We have footage of him saying he was no longer a Jedi and he was going to join Dooku and the Separatists and give them all of our codes, so we had to... we had to execute him, sir,” Jesse replied. 

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened, “He was Fallen?”

“Yes, sir,” Jesse answered. Obi-Wan let out a low whistle and looked to the ground with a forlorn expression. Fives fidgeted uncomfortably at Jesse’s side. 

“Something more to say, Fives?” Obi-Wan asked, raising his gaze to look at the pair again.

“Sir... there’s no pleasant way of putting this but... he’s the... he’s the one who... who,” Fives stammered. Never before had Cody seen Fives at a loss for words like this, except for when Echo had died at the Citadel. 

Fives swallowed hard and continued, “He’s the one who killed Captain Rex, sirs, and countless other men.” 

Cody’s vision tunneled. His younger brother had been  _murdered_ by a Jedi that he was sworn to protect and be loyal to. He was dimly aware of Obi-Wan continuing the conversation with the pair, but he wasn’t paying attention.

Rex was  _dead_ .

——————

Around a week later, they were finally able to leave Umbara. Cody was more than happy to return to his private quarters aboard the  _Negotiator_ , Rex’s dirty helmet held in his hands in a white-knuckled grip as he made his way there.

Obi-Wan still hadn’t told Anakin and Ahsoka what happened, as he felt it would probably be better if he told them in person, and Cody did  _not_ want to be there for that conversation. The Jedi general had gone to his own quarters to figure out how to tell them all that had transpired. He had the entire trip back to Coruscant to figure it out, luckily.

  
Cody finally made it to his quarters. He locked the door behind him and gently set Rex’s helmet down on his bed before he ripped off his own helmet and threw it against the wall as hard as he could, leaving a small dent in the metal.

Cody was  _furious_ . He didn’t have a chance to properly grieve until now because he was constantly in front of his men, but now he could let all of his emotions from the last week out. 

He roared in rage and knocked all of the datapads and knick-knacks from various battles off his desk, all falling to the ground with a loud clatter, some of them shattering upon impact. Cody found that he didn’t care very much about that as he kicked his chair as well, knocking it into the middle of the room, where it tipped over to its side.

His little brother was  _dead_ . He knew there was no reason for him to blame himself, but he couldn’t help it. If he had just done more, somehow, protected him from that monster,  _somehow_ ... he’d still be here.

The anger gave way to grief and tears. He sat on the edge of his bed and  _sobbed_ . He had promised to protect Rex, ever since they were cadets and he’d found Rex hiding from the Kaminoans, who had wanted to decommission him for his blond hair. He had broken his promise and he felt like a  _failure_.

He gingerly picked Rex’s helmet up and held it to his head in a  _Keldabe_ kiss, tears streaming from his face. 

“ _Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la_ , ” he muttered, trying to convince himself that Rex was in a better place.

“Rex... I’m so sorry. I should’ve... should’ve done something. Should’ve known Krell was no good,” Cody said as he set the helmet down to his side and buried his face in his hands. 

“Oh, Cody, you have nothing to be sorry for,” said a painfully familiar voice. 

Cody’s head shot up and he looked for the intruder in his quarters. His eyes landed upon a translucent-blue figure crouching in front of him. It looked ghostly, and sort of like a hologram, but more importantly, it looked like...

“Rex?” Cody asked quietly, tone completely defeated and resigned. He’d lost it; he was hallucinating.

The hallucination stumbled back, body passing through the chair Cody had knocked over as it scrambled to stand. Its eyes were wide with disbelief as it stared wildly at Cody, its mouth agape in shock. 

“Force— Cody! You can  _see_ me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >cue Danny Phantom theme song<
> 
> Mando’a translation:
> 
> Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la— Not gone, merely marching far away
> 
> (Turns out far away is actually really close by for Rex)
> 
> Heheheheh yeah I thought of this AU the other day and it wouldn’t leave my mind until I wrote it >:) 
> 
> The title of the fic comes from the song “marjorie” by Taylor Swift.
> 
> Don’t worry, I’ll probably alternate between working on this and the Mars AU. I suppose whichever I write will depend more on my mood at the moment :) I also plan on the chapters getting longer, but this was an introductory chapter and so it didn’t really need to be much longer than it was. 
> 
> My tumblr is ameanstoanendor if you wanna check it out sometime! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Backtrack

The feeling of dying was not at all what Rex imagined it to be like. He always thought that he’d feel a lot of pain, unless he somehow managed to live long enough to go out in his sleep.

Yet, here he was with a lightsaber wound through his gut, and he didn’t feel any pain at all. Sure, when Krell had first stabbed him, he’d felt a  _lot_ of pain, but the longer he laid here on the ground, the less it hurt. At this point, it was merely a dull ache, a slight nuisance. 

He knew he didn’t have much time left as he listened to the sounds of the battle going on around him. He may not have been able to finish Krell’s arrest, to see it through to the end, but he trusted that his men would be able to do so. 

He coughed, and oh,  _there_ was the pain he always imagined. He laughed weakly to himself as he felt his own blood dribble down his chin. He thought that he should probably take his helmet off so the blood didn’t get stuck in it, but his arms felt leaden and wouldn’t respond to his movements. One arm was splayed above his head, the other held closer to his wound. He was laying on his side, somewhat curled into himself.

Before Rex had much more time to dwell on trying to get his helmet off, he heard footsteps coming towards him. Soon, Kix’s worried face appeared in front of his swimming vision, and man, he hadn’t even  _realized_ that his vision was already blurring.

Kix rolled him over onto his back and gently set Rex’s hand down by his side. Rex let out a pained groan at the movements. 

Carefully, Kix pulled off the downed captain’s helmet and Rex thought he saw him grimace, and he assumed that it was probably because of the blood dribbling from his mouth.

Rex coughed once, twice, and then shuddered at the pain it caused him while Kix looked over his wound worriedly. 

“Not gonna be so easy to bounce back from this one, eh, Kix?” Rex asked weakly, looking up at the dark sky above him. 

“Don’t talk like that, Captain, you’ll be better in—“ Kix began.

“Don’t lie, Kix. You don’t to any of your other patients,” Rex cut him off, coughing, grimacing, and taking in a shuddering breath. Kix frowned and took one of his hands, holding it in-between both of his own.

“Kix! Kix, how is he?” He heard off in the distance. Sounded like Fives. When had the battle stopped? Did they win? They must’ve. Rex knew they would— they always found a way to come out on top. 

Fives’ worried face swam into his vision, along with Jesse’s and Tup’s. 

Rex blinked rapidly to try and keep his focus on them, but his awareness was slipping quickly.  _This is it_ _,_ he thought,  _I had better make these moments count._

“Fives, Jesse... ‘M sorry I let ‘im try ‘n... try ‘n,” He began, but he coughed a few more times and shuddered. 

“Shhh, it’s okay, Captain. You did everything just right,” Fives told him gently, kneeling down to be closer to him. 

Rex gave him a quick nod, breathing quickening, “You boys... always made me proud. Couldn’t... couldn’t’ve done better.”

He closed his eyes, and felt someone touching his shoulder gently. 

“Thank you, Captain, for always being there for us,” He heard. He smiled slightly and felt his already weak grip on Kix’s hands slip before he let out his last breath...

And moments later, he jolted upright again with a gasp. He looked around his surroundings wildly.

He had been sure that he was dying. Had Kix somehow figured out a way to save him? Looking around, he saw that he was in the same spot that he’d been lying in after Krell had run him through with his lightsaber. The brothers that had been surrounding him were now walking away, and he noted with satisfaction that further ahead was an unconscious and handcuffed Krell being carried by a few of his men. 

Rex got up slowly, confused when he didn’t feel any pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he realized that the wound wasn’t there at all. His armor was also impossibly pristine and clean and... wait a second, was he... was he  _blue_ ... and  _see-through_ ? 

He stumbled away from his position, breath quickening. He turned and looked back at where he had been standing and saw... himself. He saw his own dead body laying on the ground on his back, just as Kix had left him. His helmet wasn’t with him anymore, so he assumed one of his boys took it.

Rex let out an unholy screech upon seeing...  _himself_ , and fell to his knees, holding his palms to his forehead for the second time that day. 

He was absolutely terrified, to be honest. Nothing in his training had ever prepared him for the possibility that he’d become a  ghost after his death, and staring at one’s own dead body was... disturbing, to say the least. 

This was... this was impossible. It had to be some sick, fever dream, right? He repeated that to himself as he stood up and held out his translucent hands in front of him, twisting and turning them to see if he could see through them at any angle (he could). 

He attempted to lean against one of the tree-like Umbaran plants, but ended up falling  _through_ it instead of simply leaning against it. He cursed and stumbled to his feet, brushing himself off as though dirt had gathered on him (he would’ve had to have been able to actually  _touch_ things for that to happen in the first place). He absentmindedly wondered why he didn’t fall through the surface of the planet, but decided not to think on it too hard. 

Gathering his thoughts, Rex decided to go back to the base. Maybe they could see him, or he’d find some other ghosts of clones hanging around there? 

Nodding to himself, he began the trek back to the base. He was only a few minutes behind, so he would surely catch up to some clones, soon, and they’d be able to help with... whatever this was. 

In a matter of minutes, he was back at the base. Two troopers were guarding the entrance, and Rex hustled over to them. 

They didn’t seem to react at seeing a walking-hologram of their dead captain approach them, and Rex began to feel even more anxious than he already was.  Get it together, Rex, you’re a captain. You can deal with this,  he thought. 

“Viper, Rascal, can you see me?” He asked as he approached them. They didn’t react, and he knew the answer was no, but he still waved his hands wildly in front of their faces in an attempt to get their attention. 

They still didn’t react. Rex huffed angrily and attempted to grab Viper’s shoulders, but gasped in shock when his hands went through him. 

Viper shuddered, though, which meant Rex’s touch at least did  _ something .  _

“Woah. That was a really bad chill,” Viper commented idly as Rex made his way into the base.

“Shut up, Viper,” Rascal muttered. Rex shook his head in amusement and continued on. 

He didn’t see any other ghosts so far, but surely that didn’t mean he was the only one, did it? Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he decided to make his way to the prison cells on the base, wondering what they had done with Krell. 

Habitually, he walked through open doorways. Upon finding some closed, he walked  through them, which would take some getting used to, if whatever this was was going to be long-term.

He found Fives and Jesse speaking to Krell, Jesse holding Dogma and Fives pointing a gun at a smug-looking Krell.

“Why? Why kill your own men?” Fives demanded.

“Because I wanted to. Because I  _can_ ,” Krell began. Rex’s blood boiled and he tuned the murderer out, instead focusing on Dogma, who was shifting closer to where Jesse’s gun was resting on his hip.

“Oh, no, Dogma, you better not,” Rex said aloud, fully aware that no one would be able to hear him.

“I took great pleasure in killing that bothersome captain, CT-7567,” Krell was saying, drawing Rex’s attention towards him upon hearing his number. 

“His _name_ was _Rex_ , and you _murdered_ him in cold blood,” Fives growled, “Turn around. On your knees.” 

Krell smugly turned around, “You’re in a position of power now. How does it feel?”

“I  _said_ on. Your. Knees,” Fives repeated. Still, he hesitated, hands shaking every so slightly. 

“Can’t do it, can you?” Krell asked. Rex turned back to Dogma.

“Dogma...” Rex muttered helplessly. 

Krell continued rambling, and Rex watched as Dogma swiftly removed Jesse’s gun and shot Krell straight through the chest.  _Yeah, hurts, doesn’t it_ , thought Rex.

Fives and Jesse turned and looked at Dogma in shock.

“He— he was going to betray us and he— he  _killed_ the captain. I had to do something,” Dogma stammered, letting Jesse ease the gun out of his hands as he fell to his knees.

Rex kneeled next to him, hand hovering ever so slightly above Dogma’s shoulder. He didn’t really want to give Dogma a chill, but he wished that he was there to comfort him.

“It’s okay, brother. You did good,” Rex said quietly, “You made the right choice when it mattered.”

“What’s gonna... what’s gonna happen to me now?” Dogma asked weakly, raising his head. 

“We recorded all of Krell’s confession. With everything that he confessed to, you were undoubtedly in the right, and I doubt General Kenobi will let anything happen to you after he hears all of it,” Jesse replied gently, “Come on, we’d better... leave.”

The trio rose, got on the elevator, and left the cells.

Rex sat on the ground with a loud sigh and wrapped his arms around his knees. He glanced at where Krell’s body was now cooling, half expecting his translucent-blue ghost to appear, but it didn’t. 

He thought about his new-found situation. Dead in all the ways that mattered, unable to be seen or heard by his brothers but able to be amongst them, able to see them hurt yet unable to do anything about it. More selfishly, he was upset that his life had been cut short in such a way. He expected to die at some point in the war, but he never once imagined it would’ve been like this.

Figuring that there was no one nearby to judge him, he allowed himself to cry. He buried his face into his knees and curled in on himself further. 

After a few moments, he noted with dissatisfaction that he didn’t feel anything at all. He would’ve preferred to at least feel that ache in his eyes that he felt after a good cry, but he felt unnervingly numb. 

“Oh, you poor child,” a voice said from in front of him. Rex startled and looked up wildly for the source.

Standing in front of him was a man who was the same translucent-blue as himself. This man wasn’t a clone, though. He was very tall and was wearing beige colored robes, similar to the ones General Kenobi wore. He had long brown hair that reached his shoulders and he sported a beard upon his face.

“Who are you?” Rex asked warily.

The man smiled warmly at him, “That is unimportant. You are what is important, right now.” 

Rex frowned at the obfuscation, but figured that this man might be the only person who could answer any of his questions, so he asked, “What’s going on?”

“A good question indeed. For you see, I was a Jedi when I was alive. During my lifetime, I learned a way to maintain my sense of self after death through the Force. But you were not a Jedi, nor were you force-sensitive, child,” the man replied.

Rex huffed, “Not a child.”

“Ah, but you and all of your brothers are children, forced to grow up much too quickly,” The man countered, “None of you deserved this war.” He offered Rex a sad smile.

“So... you don’t really know why I’m still here, after having died?” Rex asked after a few moments.

“Not entirely. I believe the Force has chosen you for an important task. But what that task is remains to be seen,” the man responded.

“Hard to accomplish anything when no one can see or hear you,” Rex muttered angrily, fixing his eyes on the ground in front of him. 

The man offered him another sad smile, “I know, young one, I know. Perhaps you could work on remedying that?”

Rex opened his mouth to speak but the man held up his hand to stop him, “No, I do not know how. You will have to figure that out on your own.”

Rex sighed and pushed himself off of the ground, “So now what?”

The Jedi shrugged again, “That is up to you.”

Rex rolled his eyes, “You Jedi and your riddles. A clear answer would be appreciated sometime, you know.” 

The man laughed kindly, “Ah, but where’s the fun in that?”

“I don’t really see this situation as ‘fun,’ sir,” Rex said, crossing his arms across his chest.

“No, I don’t suppose it would be,” the man said, sobering his expression, “I apologize. So much trauma for one so young, to die in such a way.”

Rex looked at the ground again, “I don’t need your pity.”

“And I am not giving you any pity. I apologize for what this war has done to you and your brothers, on behalf of all the Jedi. Most do not enjoy it, I assure you,” the man said. Rex didn’t respond, but he did turn to look at the man again.

“Young man, I am so sorry that you have been burdened like this, both in life and in death,” the Jedi continued, “but you are strong. The Force itself thinks so. I know it sounds impossible to imagine right now, but you can use this to help save your brothers and the Jedi. For there is a darkness coming, and all are too blind to see it. Perhaps you could help open their eyes.”

“What am I looking for?” Rex asked.

“You will know it when you find it. I am sorry that I could not be of more help, my friend,” the man replied, “But I must go.”

“Will I ever see you again?” Rex asked. The man merely smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder— which Rex could actually  _feel_ — before vanishing into thin-air.

Rex stared at the spot he had been standing in before letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding (did he even need to breathe anymore? Oh well, old habits die hard) and leaving the cells behind to go find Fives and Jesse again.

Upon entering the air field, he saw that the 212th had arrived, Fives and Jesse heading to greet Cody and General Kenobi. Rex knew that they had been several hours away, and wondered how long he’d actually been down there for. 

He went to stand by Cody’s side as Fives and Jesse told them what happened. When Jesse said that he had died, he wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort Cody, but upon remembering that he’d just pass through him, he held his hands slightly above Cody’s shoulder. When Fives told them how exactly he had died, he knew that Cody had been broken. Rex wanted nothing more than to comfort him.

In the next week, as they were wrapping up on Umbara, he alternated between following Fives, Jesse, Tup, Dogma (who had been released once Kenobi had heard the audio), Kix, Cody, and General Kenobi himself, trying to get one of them to sense him. No one, not even Kenobi, ever did. No amount of begging or screaming or jumping up and down ever brought attention to him. Some days, he would decide to simply sit on the ground, utterly defeated. How was he supposed to get them to see him?

When the week was over and their weary and disheartened troops finally left Umbara, Rex followed Cody up to the  _ Negotiator .  _

He watched in sorrow as Cody screamed and threw his helmet into the wall. He watched helplessly as his older brother knocked everything off his desk and kicked his chair across the room before collapsing onto his bed and holding his dirtied helmet up to his forehead.

Rex crouched down and held his forehead as close as he could to Cody’s without passing through him, hands hovering around his head as well. 

“ _Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la_ ,” Cody whispered with tears streaming down his face. Rex was sure that his face looked similar (if tears could actually stream down his face. Seeing as he couldn’t really feel anything, he wasn’t sure if they could).

“Rex... I’m so sorry. I should’ve... should’ve done something. Should’ve known Krell was no good,” Cody muttered when he set Rex’s helmet back down onto his bed.

“Oh Cody,” Rex said, leaning away from his brother and crouching on the ground in front of him, “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Cody’s head shot up instantly and Rex could’ve sworn that it looked like Cody was studying him, but he knew that that was impossible. He couldn’t see him before, so why would that have changed now?

Then, Cody asked in a quiet and defeated tone, “Rex?”

Rex jumped back, falling through the chair behind him, completely and utterly shocked.

After a few moments, he managed to force out, “Force— Cody! You can  _see_ me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe yeahhhhh
> 
> The little Mando’a bit in this chapter was the same thing from the last chapter (Not gone, merely marching far away).
> 
> Apologies if the death scene seems a bit far fetched, but I’ve never died, so I wouldn’t know how it feels :D and I haven’t watched the Umbara arc in a bit so there may also be some inaccuracies there... just roll with it :)
> 
> Viper is a clone oc of my friend not-doom-guy on tumblr, and Rascal is just a random name that I thought of that I thought would fit a clone. I figured Rex would’ve known all of his men by name, so I thought it appropriate to give the 2 guards names of their own. 
> 
> I’m very excited for this au and I really hope you enjoyed the chapter! I waited to post the fic until I had at least 2 chapters written because the first one was more of an introduction anyways. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought! Criticism/critiques are welcome! (Also, virtual cookies to those of you who can catch the very subtle reference to Hamilton in this)
> 
> My tumblr is ameanstoanendor as well if any of you guys want to yell at me for killing Rex on there.


	3. Conversations

For a few moments, the two brothers simply stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

Finally, Cody sighed and asked pitifully, “I’m hallucinating, aren’t I? Lack of sleep and stress finally catching up with me.”

Rex shook his head vehemently and wore a sad expression as he replied, “No, no, this is real, I  _swear_ .” 

Cody scoffed and shook his head, “Yeah, sure,” he turned away from the ghost and began undoing the straps of his armor.

“Cody!  _Please_ , listen to me! I did not go through an entire week completely unseen and unheard by anyone only to be ignored by you when you can finally see me!” Rex exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. 

Cody turned again and stared at the ghostly form of his younger brother. For a moment, his form flickered, and Cody could’ve sworn he looked like the 5-year-old cadet (or, a 10 year old by nat-born standards) Cody had first met, but the moment passed and he was left staring at his brother as he had last seen him when he was alive. He didn’t particularly like the fact that he could see  _through_ his brother, though. 

“Rex...” Cody trailed off and swallowed the lump building in his throat, “If this is real... how is this possible?”

“I... I don’t know. I just... woke up, after... and I was like this,” Rex said, visibly relaxing when Cody acknowledged him. He lowered himself onto the floor and hugged his arms around his knees. Were it anyone else seeing him, Rex never would’ve shown his vulnerability in such a way, but Cody had seen him at his worst before, anyways. 

“So, a ghost?” Cody asked. Rex nodded and then sighed.

“Yeah. I guess. And I’m the only one around— well, other than this one overly vague Jedi who came and talked to me right after they executed Krell,” He said, shaking his head and staring at the ground. 

“A Jedi’s ghost?” Cody asked in surprise, “Does that mean you were force sensitive, somehow?” 

“No, he very specifically said that I wasn’t. And besides, then there would’ve been a ghost for Krell or any other Jedi who’s died in this war. It was just him, he said he learned how to maintain his sense of self after death. He told me to ‘figure out’ why I was like this,” Rex said, making air quotes with his fingers when he paraphrased the Jedi. 

Cody nodded, “Well, if this is all some hallucination, it’s very clever.”

Rex chuckled, “Tell me about it.” Both offered the other a slight smile before they slid off of their faces, remembering what had put them into this situation in the first place. They stared at the ground in between them and didn’t speak for a few moments. 

“You’ve been following me around for a whole week?” Cody asked suddenly, looking up sharply towards Rex, who rose his head slowly and nodded. 

“You, the 501st, even General Kenobi. I just... I was scared and lonely and no one could  _hear_ me... and I can’t _feel_ anything , and I needed someone to at least  see me,” Rex replied, voice quivering as he spoke, “I did everything I could think of. Screaming, jumping up and down, clapping, all right in front of your faces, and no one could see me.”

Cody caught sight of tears slipping down his brother’s face and he felt some running down his as well. 

“Oh, Rex, I’m so sorry,” Cody said, wanting nothing more than to envelope Rex in a warm hug. However, neither moved from their positions. 

Rex shrugged and stared at the ground again. 

“‘S’okay, wasn’t your fault,” He muttered. Again, his form flickered, and Cody caught sight of the young cadet Rex had once been, but Rex didn’t seem to notice at all. The moment passed just as quickly as the last time and Cody was left wondering if he imagined it. 

“Why can I see you now?” Cody asked, shifting so that he could finish removing his armor, as he’d dropped the task earlier in their conversation. 

“I don’t really know, but the Jedi did say that I had to figure out a way to get you all to see me. I don’t know what changed,” Rex said with a sigh, letting go of his knees and leaning back, using his hands to support him. 

Cody nodded and stretched, finally stripped of all of his armor, “Well this... this sucks.”

Rex nodded in agreement, “How are you doing?”

“How am  _I_ doing? I’m sure you saw, but not great... but how are  _you_ doing?” Cody asked.

“What do you mean?” Rex asked innocently, quirking an eyebrow upwards.

“What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’?!” Cody exclaimed, leveling a glare upon his brother, “I’m not the one who was  _murdered_ !”

Rex let out a bitter laugh and again, his form flickered. This time, however, he stayed the same age; instead, blood trailed down his chin, his armor was crusted and dirty, and there was a charred hole in his abdomen. Cody stared at him in horror, but the moment passed just as quickly as the last two.

As though nothing had happened, Rex replied angrily, “I’m angry and scared and  _alone_ , Cody! I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t know what to do about it.” He buried his face in his hands now, sighing heavily.

Cody got up from his bed and sat down next to his brother, who shifted minutely towards Cody, but didn’t make any move to touch him.

Cody began to reach towards him, but Rex took his head out of his hands and shifted away, then. 

“Don’t try it. You’ll just pass through me, and it’ll feel weird— for you, not for me. I can’t feel a damn thing,” Rex said regretfully.

Cody paused, “Hang on, were you the reason I kept feeling chills run down my spine?” 

Rex shrugged and smiled mischievously. Cody rolled his eyes but then continued to reach for Rex’s shoulder. Rex’s smile fell and he turned away. 

To both of their immense shock, Cody’s hand touched something that felt solid, and well, that’s about all he could use to describe the way Rex’s shoulder felt.

The pair of them stared at Cody’s hand, Rex’s mouth agape in shock. 

“I— how? Uh, why?” He spluttered. Cody shrugged and then pulled his brother into a hug. Rex melted into his embrace and after a few moments, they were both crying. 

They pulled apart eventually, although Cody made sure that some part of him was still touching Rex. 

Rex leaned over to the chair he had passed through earlier, and waved his hand through it. 

“Hmm. I can only touch you, I guess,” He muttered, “Better than nothing, though. Hell of a lot better, actually.” He turned towards Cody and offered him a small smile, which was returned to him. 

“Definitely. There’s nothing good about this situation, Rex, but... at least you’re not alone anymore,” Cody said. Rex closed his eyes and smiled slightly, relief evident upon his face.

“Well... I’m exhausted,” Cody said, finally standing up and stretching. 

“Ha,” Rex said, standing up as well, “Imagine needing sleep.” Cody snorted and rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t wander too far off, okay, _vod’ika_?” Cody said.

“Okay,  _mom_ ,” Rex said with an eye roll. Neither really wanted to let the other out of their sight, though, and they stood there and stared at each other for a few moments before Cody sighed.

“Or, you could sleep in here... or, attempt to,” He said. Rex did a slight fist pump. Eventually, they settled into the bed, back to back, simply soaking in each other’s presence. Cody slept much sounder than he had in nights, and Rex finally felt whole for the first time in awhile. 

——————

All good things must come to an end, and of course, Cody eventually had to get up for his duties aboard the  _Negotiator_ . Rex followed him around for awhile, doing his best to not distract him (although he couldn’t resist goofing around and giving some troopers chills every now and then). They would be arriving at Coruscant today and they had to do some tidying up. 

Eventually, Obi-Wan approached Cody on the bridge of the ship. 

“Cody, you seem better,” He said. He himself still looked subdued and well, Cody did, too, but the commander felt much better than he had the day before. 

“I was able to work through some of my grief, sir,” Cody replied cordially. Rex snickered by his side, and Cody was very glad that he was wearing his helmet.

“I’m glad to hear it, commander,” Obi-Wan said, “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to give the news to Anakin and Ahsoka later... I must say that I am not entirely looking forward to it.”

“Oh, no,” Rex muttered.

Cody ignored him, “I don’t envy you, sir.”

Obi-Wan sighed and crossed his arms across his chest, stroking his beard in thought. Rex mimicked him in an attempt to cheer both himself and Cody up, and Cody smiled wryly underneath his helmet. 

“We’ll be arriving any minute,” Obi-Wan said after a few moments of silence, “Despite the circumstances, I’m relieved that we will finally get some rest and relaxation.” 

“Same here, sir,” Cody said. Obi-Wan nodded wearily at him and excused himself. 

Rex stared after him, “I’m going to follow him. I want to be there for Skywalker and Tano, even if they won’t know I’m there.”

Cody inclined his head ever so slightly, letting Rex know that he had heard him and that he should go. Rex nodded at Cody before following Obi-Wan out of the bridge. 

Eventually, the ship landed, and Obi-Wan disembarked, immediately heading towards the temple. Rex followed closely, marveling at the architecture of the temple. He’d been before, of course, but now he could openly be in awe of it all, as no one was around to see him gawk. 

Eventually, the Jedi general arrived at what Rex assumed was one of the apartments Skywalker had spoken of. Obi-Wan hesitated before knocking on the door.

Anakin opened it, frowning and moving aside to let Obi-Wan walk inside, “Oh, it’s you. What was so important that you needed to tell Snips and I here? We really want to go see our men.”

Rex followed Obi-Wan in, mirroring his cringe at Anakin’s last sentence. Ahsoka sat inside, seated at a dining table and eating a meal. Anakin returned to his own meal in the seat across from her. 

“It’s... it’s about some of the events of Umbara, Anakin,” Obi-Wan replied as he sat himself down in an empty chair. Rex stood at the head of the table and watched.

“Oh. Why haven’t the mission reports been released yet?” Anakin asked, listing an eyebrow and looking at Obi-Wan inquisitively. Ahsoka looked at him with the same expression.

“I thought... it might be better for me to tell you of the events that transpired there in person, rather than having you read about them,” Obi-Wan said, swallowing hard and frowning.

Ahsoka and Anakin exchanged worried glances. Rex cringed to himself

“Master, what happened?” Ahsoka asked.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath and began, “General Krell was... Fallen.”

“What?!?” Anakin exclaimed, jumping up in shock, “What did he  do ?” Ahsoka looked tense and worried. 

“He... he had no regard for the lives of any of your men. He purposefully led them into slaughter after slaughter,” Obi-Wan answered calmly.

Anakin sat back down and clenched his fists in anger.

“Surely Rex put a stop to all of that,” Ahsoka said hopefully.

Obi-Wan paused and Rex held his breath as the Jedi finally continued, “He did. After Krell incited a friendly-fire incident between Torrent and one of my own battalions from the 212th by telling both battalions that the enemy had stolen their armor and weapons, Rex and his men attempted to relieve Krell of duty. They succeeded, but...”

“But _what_ , Obi-Wan?” Anakin asked quietly. 

“Captain Rex was killed by Krell during the process of arresting him,” Obi-Wan answered in an equally quiet tone. Ahsoka gasped and covered her mouth with her hands and Anakin clenched his fist even harder. Rex made his way around to the table towards Ahsoka, kneeling beside her.

“It’s okay, Commander. I’m not too far away,” Rex said quietly, although he knew that it was falling on deaf ears. She was holding back tears. Rex wanted to comfort her so badly, but he still didn’t know how he’d managed to get Cody to be able to see him and he didn’t know if he could replicate the same results. 

“This is... this is my fault,” Anakin said after a tense silence.

“No way, General. You had no control over the situation. The Chancellor’s timing just sucked,” Rex said sharply, looking at his general with a stern expression and mentally begging him to hear him. Obi-Wan essentially rephrased the same thing he had said, though. 

Anakin shook his head angrily and stood up abruptly, leaving the apartment quickly. Obi-Wan sighed and turned to Ahsoka.

“Master Obi-Wan... is he really gone?” She asked quietly.

“I’m sorry, dear one,” Obi-Wan said. She sniffed and jumped out of her chair. Obi-Wan opened his arms and she fell into his embrace, tears falling freely.

Rex stood beside them sorrowfully, “I’m sorry, commander. I didn’t intend to leave so soon.” 

He only hoped that one day, this broken trio would be able to see him, too, so that his apologies would finally be heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Yay!
> 
> First off, I am absolutely FLABBERGASTED (word of the day) at the response this fic got from the first two chapters alone. It got over 200 hits within 24 hours of me posting it, like WOW. That’s absolutely mind-blowing to me, but thank you all so much for your support of it!
> 
> Secondly! The only romantic relationship in this fic will be Padmé and Anakin, and that’s mostly only background stuff. The rest are all PLATONIC relationships. 
> 
> I really hope that this chapter lived up to all of your expectations! I can’t wait for the rest of the story to unfold (although I gotta write another chapter of the Mars AU before I write another for this one). 
> 
> I’m on tumblr at ameanstoanendor if any you wanna find me on there!


	4. Reveals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cody and Rex act like brothers and proceed to confuse Fives and Jesse with their interactions and behavior. Additionally, Anakin and Ahsoka have some news to share with the 501st.

Rex sat in the room with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan for a while longer, hoping that Anakin would find his way back to the apartment. The entire time, Obi-Wan sat comforting Ahsoka. He made her tea that seemed to calm her, and eventually she fell asleep on the couch. 

After about an hour or so and with no sign of Anakin returning, Rex became restless and decided to return to the barracks to find Cody. 

He was able to locate his brother in the firing range, his shots hitting the dead center of the target nearly every single time. 

Rex walked over to stand next to him. Cody only spared him a quick glance before turning back to the target, as he wasn’t alone in the range and he didn’t want to appear insane.

“Aw, man,” Rex said, “I can’t shoot my pistols anymore.” He didn’t even have them anymore, in fact, but that wasn’t something to worry about. 

Cody huffed and rolled his eyes discreetly. Rex gave him a lopsided smile and continued to watch his brother shoot. 

After a few moments, Cody sat down on a bench and took a break, grabbing a water bottle and sitting with one leg draped across his other knee. The door to the range opened, and in walked Fives and Jesse, walked side-by-side and deeply engrossed in a conversation with the other.

“—taste awful,” Jesse was saying. 

“You think  _everything_ tastes awful. You wouldn’t know something good if it hit you in the face,” Fives said, rolling his eyes.

“Good to see them looking more chipper,” Rex commented idly by Cody’s side. He hadn’t seen the 501st since he’d followed Cody to the  _Negotiator_ . To be quite frank, they had all seemed to be struggling greatly, but they did look more comfortable now. That, or they were just doing a better job at hiding it. 

Cody grunted in acknowledgement and stood up from the bench, returning to his spot at the range. 

“Oh! Commander!” Jesse exclaimed as Cody walked past, snapping into a salute. Fives followed suit shortly.

“At ease, men. We’re in the barracks. We don’t need any formalities here,” Cody said, nodding at the pair of them. The two relaxed and exchanged glances before continuing on.

Rex glanced at Cody and then shrugged, “I’m gonna follow them.” Cody inclined his head in acknowledgment and turned towards the target, continuing his streak of perfect shots.

Fives and Jesse had gone quiet by the time Rex reached them again. Jesse slowly grabbed guns off of the wall and brought them over to Fives. Together they began to take them apart and clean them, as was customary before firing communal weapons.

“How d’you think the commander’s doing?” Jesse asked quietly. 

Fives shrugged, “Better, I guess. Although it looks like he’s in here to blow off some steam.”

“Yeah, he and both of us, too,” Jesse replied with a sigh, setting his cleaning rag down to the side and staring at the ground. 

Fives copied him and sighed heavily, “This war kriffing sucks.”

“Yep,” Jesse said in response, popping the ‘p’ as he spoke.

“The good ones are always gone too soon,” Fives continued, “Domino Squad, 99, Hardcase, Rex...” Jesse mumbled in agreement.

Rex looked on at them sorrowfully as the pair lapsed into silence. It appeared that their earlier conversation had merely been distracting them from their current plight. 

They finished cleaning their weapons and took to the range. While their shots didn’t hit on point as often as Cody’s did, they were still insanely accurate. Rex felt a rush of pride in him as he watched them silently work through their rounds. He only wished that they were in better spirits. 

‘Ha. Better  _spirits_ ,’ Rex thought to himself as he walked back over to Cody, intent on tormenting his older brother with his awful pun.It had become late in the evening and the three (er, four, as Rex could count himself even if no one other than Cody would) of them were the only ones left in the range.

As he walked up and opened his mouth to speak, many things happened at once. Cody fired a shot at the target, which he had switched to dummy droids at some point. The dummy droid, which was not meant to explode, exploded. Luckily, Cody was far enough back that the droid could not do him any real damage other than to send him flying backwards, right into Rex, who caught him on instinct.

“Kriff!” Rex exclaimed as he held his dazed older brother up by his armpits. 

“Woah,” Cody muttered, shaking his head in order to clear his thoughts, but not making any move to stand for himself. 

The two stood there, completely forgetting that there was anyone else in the room, until they heard someone clear their throat and ask, “Um, Commander?”

The pair of brothers whipped their heads towards Fives and Jesse, who were staring at Cody and Rex with something akin to confusion and amazement.

“Oh, they still can’t see me,” Rex said, letting go of Cody and letting him drop onto the ground. The pair was probably wondering how the commander was being held up like that when there was apparently no one there to hold him up. 

Cody let out an abbreviated, “Hey!” As he fell to the ground. 

“Shut up, Codes, put on your commander face,” Rex said, smacking him on the head slightly. Oh, he enjoyed being able to torment his brother when no one else could see him and Cody couldn’t react. 

Cody seemed to remember himself, then, as before he’d been too dazed to properly carry himself in the situation. He stood up quickly— too quickly, as his head began swimming and he stumbled forward, only to be supported by Fives.

“Commander?” Jesse inquired. Cody straightened himself up and stood up on his own, dusting off his blacks. 

“I’m fine, Jesse,” Cody said, “Just dazed.”

“Riiiight,” Fives said slowly, “And how were you supporting yourself just before now?”

Cody glowered at him, “That’s unimportant right now.”

“Oh, sure, alright. We’ll just take you to Kix in the medbay and get you checked out and you can explain to us  _there_ ,” Fives said, returning the glare, “That looked like some Jedi crap to me.”

“It wasn’t,” Cody and Rex replied in sync, although the pair before them only heard one of them. Cody spared a glance at where Rex was still standing, still too dazed to think otherwise of doing so when there were two soldiers staring at him. 

Jesse and Fives exchanged glances.

“Listen, commander, we don’t care if it was. You still need to get checked out at the medbay,” Jesse said.

“It wasn’t,” Cody repeated, “but I don’t think you’d believe the truth.”

“Try us, Commander,” Fives said, crossing his arms across his chest.

Cody stared at them for a few moments, obviously debating with himself internally. On the one hand, it would be nice for some of the 501st to know their captain was still around. On the other hand, it was most likely that they’d deem him insane and lose all respect for him. Then again, based on the expectant looks on their faces, they probably wouldn’t leave him alone until he explained, and Cody’s brain was too muddled to think of a better excuse. 

“Rex caught me,” Cody said shortly as he lowered himself onto the bench he had been sitting on earlier

Fives and Jesse exchanged startled looks, obviously not expecting him to answer in such a way. 

“Oh, you just went out and said it. So much for keeping it a secret and sounding sane,” Rex said by his side, crossing his legs and arms and smirking at his brother. 

“Um, commander, we know you must miss him,and we do, too, but it isn’t healthy to—“ Jesse began. Cody held up a hand to silence him.

“Listen to me,” Cody said, “I’m not  _insane_ . I know that Rex is dead.”

Fives nodded slowly, “And so then you’d know that it would be impossible for him to catch you.”

Cody shook his head, “Not if he’s a ghost.”

“Um, commander, maybe you hit your head harder than you thought,” Jesse said carefully, “Let’s get you to the—“

“No,” Cody interrupted, “Let me finish explaining. It’s just hard to talk about.”

“Quit interrupting Jesse, Cody, let the man speak,” Rex teased. 

Cody glared at him, “Quiet, you little brat.” Rex held his hands up in mock surrender. 

Fives and Jesse stared at Cody like he was insane, and apparently talking to himself didn’t help his case.

Cody took a deep breath and released, “Rex is— he’s a ghost now. He has been ever since Krell killed him and he’d been trying to get us all to see him for that entire week we were finishing up on Umbara. He couldn’t get any of us to see him until last night on the  _Negotiator_ , when he somehow figured out a way for me to be able to. We figured out he can also touch me.”

Fives and Jesse exchanged looks yet again before Fives lifted an eyebrow and turned back to Cody, “Okay. Prove it.”

Cody stood up with a huff, “Rex, lift me up or something.”

Rex lifted an eyebrow, “You sure you want to lose the rest of your dignity in front of these guys?”

Cody stared at him blankly before rolling his eyes, “We’re well past losing the last of my dignity, Rex.” 

Rex laughed, “Okay, trust fall, then. I’ll catch you.” Cody rolled his eyes again and fell back, Rex catching him the same way he’d caught him when he’d been blown backwards earlier. 

Fives and Jesse watched with bewildered expressions. 

“Okay, sure. Give us more proof,” Fives said, smugly placing his hands in his hips. 

“Hmmm, okay, tell him that the last thing I told them when I was dying what that I was proud of them and they couldn’t have done better, and then the last thing I heard— I don’t know who said it because I was dying— was ‘thank you, Captain, for always being there for us.’ You weren’t there for that so there’s no way you would know unless I told you,” Rex said before dropping Cody onto the ground again. Cody showed him an obscene hand gesture before pushing himself back into a standing position. 

Cody repeated what Rex had told him, though, and Fives and Jesse yet again exchanged shocked looks at that. 

“Okay, so maybe you  aren’t insane,” Jesse said, “Although you  are acting really weird right now, all due respect.”

“I’m dazed after being blown back by an explosion and my  _di’kut_ of a younger brother is a kriffing  _ghost_ who won’t stop making fun of me. None of this is normal and I need sleep and caf,” Cody deadpanned. Fives stifled a laugh, but turned it into a cough to act as though he hadn’t just laughed at a Marshall commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. They may not need to be formal in here, but old habits die hard and they very well couldn’t pretend like none of this had happened. 

“Okay, so what’s Rex doing now?” Jesse asked.

“Tell him I said, ‘Don’t ask stupid questions. That’s an order,’” Rex replied with a cheeky grin.

“He said, ‘Don’t ask stupid questions. That’s an order,’” Cody repeated.

“Yeah, that sounds like the captain, alright,” Fives said with a laugh. He paused and then lifted an eyebrow, “Wait, is he why we’ve all been getting chills down our spine? I read somewhere that ghosts do that to people.”

“Where? In one of Dogma’s weird children’s holonovels?” Jesse taunted.

“See, the fact that that’s where your mind went first suggests that you’ve read them, too,” Fives shot back, causing Jesse to look embarrassedly at the ground. Rex laughed openly at them and Cody smirked.

“The answer to that is yes,” Cody replied. His expression them sobered, causing Fives and Jesse to do the same. 

“Boys, this may be a humorous situation we’ve found ourselves in at the present moment, but... it’s,” Cody paused furrowing his brows as he thought of the right words to say, “It’s kind of horrible. Rex is still  _dead_ , either way.” The pair looked sorrowful and nodded in acknowledgement. 

“Killjoy,” Rex muttered, although he looked regretful, too. His form flickered yet again to his cadet self. Cody wondered vaguely if he even felt the changes, seeing as he couldn’t feel much of anything, but decided not to dwell on that for too long. He’d have to talk about them later.

“We should probably go to the medbay, now,” Cody said straightening his posture and once again assuming the role of commander, “And boys, best not to tell anyone about our ghost. They wouldn’t believe you, anyways.” The pair nodded.

“We’ll walk with you to the medbay, sir, to make sure you get there alright,” Fives said. He hesitated before continuing, “Sir, if I might ask... why can you see him, and we can’t?”

“We... don’t know. He doesn’t even know how he managed to get me to see him in the first place,” Cody replied as they began to make their way out of the firing range, not bothering to clean up the mess left behind by the exploding dummy droid.

“Hmm. We’ll have to figure it out,” Jesse said, “It must suck, to only be able to interact with one person.”

“One is better than none,” Rex and Cody said in sync, although, again, they could only hear the latter of the two. 

Fives paused, “Oh, man, I hadn’t thought of that. He was  _alone_ that entire week.” 

Rex went quiet and didn’t comment. Cody didn’t say anything, either, and they continued on in silence.

As they turned the corner of the hallway, they ran into none other than a disheveled Anakin Skywalker. 

“Fives, Jesse, there you are, I’ve been looking for you two... What happened to Cody?” He asked. The young general looked exhausted and defeated to all of them. 

As Fives explained the dummy droid exploding, Rex leaned over to Cody, “He seems more relaxed, at least. He was furious when he heard what had happened.” Cody nodded wordlessly. 

“Oh, well definitely get him to the medbay for them to give him a once-over,” Anakin was saying when they tuned back into the conversation, “Then have the 501st meet up. There’s some stuff Ahsoka and I want to discuss with all of you about what happened in our absence... it’s not going to be an easy talk, I’m afraid.”

Fives and Jesse nodded solemnly. Anakin gave them a reassuring nod and began to walk off before turning back and saying, “Oh, and don’t you men worry about any of what happened.  None of you are in any trouble.” The pair nodded again, and continued on their way to the medbay. 

After dropping Cody off, Rex decided to follow them to the meeting.

The pair walked in silence before Fives huffed a sigh and said, “Hey, captain, if you’re there, give me a chill or something.”

Rex rolled his eyes and waved his hand through Fives, who shuddered dramatically.

“Woah. Okay, that’s crazy,” Fives said, looking to Jesse with wide eyes. Jesse nodded in agreement.

“Just when I thought the Force couldn’t get any weirder,” he said. They made it to the 501st’s barracks, where the rest of the battalion was all gathered with Ahsoka and Anakin.

“Great, we’re all here, mostly. If anyone isn’t here, pass the message along to them,” Anakin said, standing on one of the beds to make himself seen by all.

He took a deep breath and sighed, “Listen, men. I think we all know why we’re gathered here. I would like to personally apologize for what happened on Umbara.”

The troops muttered in confusion, not understanding why Anakin would blame himself for the actions of Krell.

“The Jedi Order as a whole failed all of you,” Anakin continued, “We failed to notice that one of our own had fallen so far, nor did we even take into account his unusually high casualty rates. We didn’t stop to consider the reasoning behind them and that put all of your lives at risk and cost us many of our best men.”

The troops stayed silent and solemn as he spoke.

“From now on, Ahsoka and I swear to do better by all of you. She’s here to keep me in check,” Anakin said, “None of you should ever have to choose between your duty to the Republic and your brothers. I’m telling you, here and now, that you should choose your brothers. They’re all you have, after all.”

He paused and took a deep breath, “This... this isn’t common knowledge, other than the fact that I came to the Jedi Order later than most. The reasoning behind this is that I grew up on Tatooine, as a slave, until I was 9 years old and found by a Jedi named Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan learner, Obi-Wan Kenobi.” 

There was murmuring among the men at this, mixtures of shock at the story and confusion as to where he was going with it. Anakin held up his hands to quiet them.

“I know you’re wondering where I’m going with this. It’s come to my attention, as of late, that you men are treated as though you’re less than human. I get what that’s like more than anyone else. You weren’t given a choice in any of this war, and you never even got to choose whether you’d be a part of it or not,” Anakin said, “Especially after what happened on Umbara, specifically to our beloved Captain, I’ve realized that you all deserve so much better. So, I spoke with Senator Amidala earlier, and convinced her to draft a bill proposing full citizenship rights to all of you. It’s not much and it might not even pass, but it’s a start.”

All of the men erupted into cheers at hearing that news. Ahsoka and Anakin beamed at them. Fives and Jesse had joined the crowd at some point, and Rex stood at the back of the room, watching the scene unfold with a small smile on his face. His brothers had a  chance , however small, at a better life, and that’s all that mattered. 

“Additionally, Captain Rex once told me the story of a deserter he met on Saleucami when he was injured,” Ahsoka said after the men settled down standing up on the bed next to Anakin, “He told me that he was one of the bravest men he’d ever met after he watched him defend his family from commando droids. Were Rex still— still with us, I’m sure he’d have a coronary at me sharing this, but he confided in me that he one day wished to be able settle down in a life like that, after the war.

“The point I’m trying to make is this: there is absolutely no shame in wanting to leave this war effort behind for a quiet life right now. You were never even offered the choice to fight or to live a simple life and it’s a choice Anakin and I would like to give you now. Keep this in-between us here in the 501st, but if any of you think that you want to go off on your own, Anakin and I would be more than happy to stage an incident so that you could get away safely. Speak to us privately at any time if you ever feel like it’s something you want to do. You all deserve so much more than what you were given.”

_A freedom trail for clones_ , Rex thought,  _who’d’ve thought?_ His brothers all seemed to share similar thoughts as they murmured amongst themselves. 

Standing in the back of the room as Anakin disbanded the meeting, Rex couldn’t help but feel satisfied that at least  _something_ good had come from his death. He had a feeling— a  _good_ one— that this wasn’t the only change for the betterment of his brothers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one:  
> Fives and Jesse: *exchanging looks every five seconds*
> 
> Yeah this ended up sillier than I intended with the first 3/4s of it, but I felt that we deserved some lightheartedness after all the sadness of the first 3 chapters (especially since we’re gonna be diving in to the Zygeria Arc soon ahaha). 
> 
> I also just wanted to have Cody and Rex act like the goofy brothers we all know they are. They seemed a little off when I was writing this, but then I considered how my older siblings and I all have our “professional” side for our jobs/schooling and our goofy, typical sibling sides when we’re just around each other so I figured Cody and Rex would have a similar relationship.
> 
> I know I said I’d write another chapter of the Mars AU before I wrote one for this but the response I’ve received for this has just been so mind-blowing that I couldn’t help myself from writing another chapter. Like, it already has over 50 subscriptions, meaning over 50 people want updates for this AU I came up with while taking a 30-40 minute long, scalding-hot shower? Absolutely insane, and thank you all SO much!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, you can find me on tumblr at ameanstoanendor! Thank you for reading!


	5. Seeing is Believing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka faces Zygerria with Rex by her side (although she doesn’t know it at first).

Rex spent the next few days following Cody, Fives, and Jesse around in the barracks. The latter two still couldn’t see him, but he’d let them know he was there by giving them a chill. They would always nod slightly to let him know that they knew he was there, and they’d sit together (not that the other two knew exactly  where he was sitting, but it comforted him to be near people who knew he was still around). 

At nights, he’d stay in Cody’s quarters with him. Cody had taken to worrying about his whereabouts often, now, as he was worried his younger brother would vanish without warning and he’d lose him all over again. Neither was any closer to figuring out why Cody could see him. 

Rex was starting to loathe his inability to do anything other than  _exist_ . He couldn’t sleep, eat, fire a weapon, or anything of the sort. He simply  _was_ . Cody was the only way he could interact with the environment around him, but he very obviously couldn’t mess with him  all the time. 

Cody could sense his rising frustrations, though. If they were in public, Cody would always send Rex a discreet nod. It wasn’t much, but it always sent the same message:  _I’m here for you, vod. You aren’t alone._

It comforted Rex more than it probably should have, but clones were never made to be alone. Even something as small as a nod helped him immensely. Cody would be sure to give him many hugs when they were finally alone together, though, and those helped even more.

Of course, periods of rest like this couldn’t last forever. Eventually, the 501st, along with General Kenobi and Cody, were called to the planet Kiros to help the colonists there, as all contact with them had been lost. 

When the bombs in the city were discovered, Rex wished more than ever that he was able to help them and interact with his environment. Unfortunately, in his condition, he couldn’t interact with anything, so he stayed put near Cody, huffing dramatically every few minutes until Cody discreetly snapped at him and told him to ‘shut up.’

It was discovered pretty quickly that all of the Togruta colonists had been abducted by the Zygerrians. The Jedi Council decided to send Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Cody to the planet Zygerria to investigate and hopefully locate the missing colonists.

“This is a kriffed up plan,” Rex told Cody when the two of them had a brief moment alone together in the ship that was taking them all to the planet, “They’re sending the two highest ranking officers of the 501st  and the 212th on a highly dangerous mission that is almost  _guaranteed_ to go wrong. I don’t think any of you are exactly in the right state of mind for this mission, either.”

Cody scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Tell me about it. They send those three Jedi to handle more messes like this than anyone else and don’t give a damn about what they just went through.”

“It’s ridiculous. Something is going to go wrong,” Rex reiterated. The ship landed, and the quartet (or, quintet, counting Rex) was on its way into the city. 

Rex was swiftly proven correct. Obi-Wan had been captured while trying to rescue of the leader of the Togrutas, and things quickly devolved from there. The rest of the group was quickly captured. 

Rex followed the Zygerrian captors as they were brought before the queen, all still unconscious.

“Send those two to the Kadavo system,” The queen said, gesturing at Cody and Obi-Wan, “The girl will be yours, Prime Minister, once I’ve broken Skywalker. Keep her in one of your skyline isolation cages until then.”

Isolation cage? That did sound good at all. Rex knew a thing or two about isolation, now, and he didn’t want Ahsoka to have to be alone for so long. 

Cody and Obi-Wan were dragged to a ship, although they started awakening on the way there. Rex followed them, intent on telling Cody where he’d be so that his brother wouldn’t worry.

“Cody, I know this isn’t the best time, but— they’re putting Commander Tano in some sort of isolation cage, and I don’t want her to be alone,” Rex told Cody as he gained more awareness. Cody merely arched an eyebrow at him as he was led towards a ship.

Rex knew what he was asking without him even saying anything and answered, “Yes, I know she won’t see me, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least  _try_ to be there. You’ll be good with General Kenobi?”

Cody gave him a curt nod. Rex nodded in return and ran back towards the palace. He turned and watched the ship holding Cody and Obi-Wan take off before continuing on his way to find Ahsoka’s cage.

It took him awhile, but he did find it eventually. He didn’t expect it to be hanging so high above the city. He himself would’ve felt claustrophobic in it, and he couldn’t imagine how Ahsoka was feeling. She appeared to be meditating by the time he got there, a technique he knew she often used to calm herself down.

The Zygerrian prime minister came by and taunted her for a few moments. She held herself without fear and shot back insults of her own before the prime minister set off her collar and electrocuted her. The sight made Rex’s blood boil, and he swung a punch at the Zygerrian, knowing full-well that it would only go through him. Still, the massive shudder that wracked the slaver’s body at Rex’s attempted punch made him feel at least somewhat satisfied.

Rex turned his attention back to Ahsoka, who was truthfully alone now. Her fearsome resolve slipped and tears ran down her face. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, eyes squeezed shut.  _Force, she’s too young to be dealing with this_ ,  thought Rex.

He immediately ran over to her cage. After a few moments of hesitation, he crawled out onto the ledge and eased himself into it, body going through the bars, but finding stable ground on the floor of the cage. 

Taking as much care to not actually touch her as he could, he ‘touched’ their foreheads together in a  _Keldabe_ Kiss . The only other time he’d done this with her was after she told him about what happened on Mortis. He only ever did this with any of his  _vod’e_ , Cody included, when they were greatly in need of comfort. Ahsokacounted as his  _vod’ika_ , and she was absolutely terrified at the moment. No one was there to judge him for doing it, anyways.

Rex didn’t want to stay in the cage for too long, though, as it was already making him a tad uncomfortable. He slipped out of it and settled down on the ledge near it, watching his younger sister work through her emotions.

Still, he felt as though he was intruding on something private, so he looked out to the city, wrinkling his nose at the varying injustices taking place within it. It stunk something awful, and he could hear the screams and cries of slaves all the way from here in the palace. It enraged him, as he couldn’t help but think back to the screams and cries of his dying brothers throughout the war, but more specifically on Umbara. That was _his_ Zygerria, he reasoned, where he and his brothers had been treated in such an unjust manner.

When he turned back to look at Ahsoka, she had stopped crying and appeared to be staring straight at him. Rex knew that she couldn’t possibly be, of course, so he turned and continued looking out at the city. 

It was then that Ahsoka asked in a small voice, “Rex?”

Rex startled and whipped his head back towards her, eyes wide, “Ahsoka? You can see me now, too?”

She nodded numbly, mouth agape in shock. 

“Well... kriff me, then,” Rex muttered. Ahsoka let out a wet laugh at that, fresh tears springing from her eyes. 

“Aw, hey, none of that,” Rex said gently. He glanced around to ensure that there were no Zygerrians nearby to hear Ahsoka talking to ‘herself,’ and turned back to her.

Ahsoka sniffed loudly, “But... but you’re dead. Right?”

Rex’s heart shattered anew upon seeing her devastated expression and he nodded slowly, “Yeah. I’m dead.” Not knowing what else to say to that, he stared down awkwardly at his boots. 

“Are you a ghost? How, though? Everyone’s supposed to pass on into the Force after they die,” Ahsoka said, studying Rex up and down and scrutinizing his apparition. She wiped the tears from her face and was obviously forcing herself to be calm, which was something she unfortunately had practice in.

“Yeah, I don’t really know,” Rex said. He explained much of the same things he explained to Cody about the Jedi and what he’d been up to (although he let his loneliness and despair show less in front of Ahsoka).

“So. Only Cody and I can see you,” Ahsoka said, “Can I touch you, too?” She stretched one of her hands through the bars of the cage.

Rex leaned forward and stretched his own hand towards hers. His breath caught in his throat when he was able to grasp it. He knew that it was logical that he could touch her as well, now, but seeing was believing, after all. She was the first person other than Cody he’d been able to touch in ages.

Still, he was aware that she was in a rather uncomfortable situation at the moment, and so he didn’t hold her hand for too long, pulling away quickly. 

“You must be so lonely,” Ahsoka said, studying him closely.

“I wish everyone would quit saying that,” Rex muttered to himself, even though she was right. She smiled sadly at him, and he averted his gaze. 

“It’s okay, Rex, you don’t have to pretend like it’s all alright in front of me,” Ahsoka told him gently.

“You’re my commanding officer,” Rex countered, “And you’re currently in a worse situation than I am, anyways.”

Ahsoka stared at him blankly for a few moments before rolling her eyes, “Okay, first of all, I  _was_ your commanding officer. That doesn’t matter anymore. Besides, I’ve broken down in front of  you before. Secondly, you’re literally  _dead_ , Rex. I don’t know of a situation much worse than that.” 

He scowled at her, knowing she was right (and also recalling that Cody had said some very similar things) and sighed, “You’re right, but either way, I don’t think here and now is the best place for me to break down. The guards are coming back.” 

Ahsoka sighed, remembering where she was and what the current mission was. The pair sat in silence as the guards came into view.

She opened her mouth after they rounded the corner and was about to continue their conversation, but clamped it shut when R2 appeared with Anakin not far behind. Anakin sent her to go get their ship, and she was off. Rex wasn’t far behind her.

“Race ya there!” She joked, obviously trying to lighten the mood. Rex smirked at her and ran as fast as he could, passing through all obstacles in his way.

He arrived at the ship first and even had to wait a few seconds for Ahsoka to arrive. 

He sat back in the co-pilot’s chair and grinned at her cheekily, “Beat you.”

“You can pass through things?! I didn’t know that! That is  _not_ fair!” She exclaimed, “You cheated!”

“You never made any rule against it,” Rex replied as she started up the ship and flew to go pick up Anakin.

“You never made any rule against it,” She said in a mocking tone, scoffing to herself. Rex smacked her upside the head and she scowled at him. They smiled at each other and forgot for a few moments what had happened to Rex. 

Once they picked Anakin up, Rex told her, “Hey, we’ll talk more later, once it can be just you, Cody, and I, okay?”

She gave him a silent nod. 

They would go on to rescue Cody, Obi-Wan, and all of the missing colonists with the help of Plo Koon and the Wolfpack. Once again, Rex despised how useless he was during the entire process, but he was proud of Ahsoka for saving her people (and impressed by Cody, who threw a blunt weapon through the factory’s warden  _and_ his chair).

Later, aboard the Wolfpack’s ship, Rex stood by Cody, who was busying himself in Wolfe’s quarters (Wolffe was off doing who-knows-what) by removing the Zygerrian armor he’d been wearing and putting on standard blacks. 

“You’re gonna go to the medbay so they can check you over, right?” Rex asked worriedly.

“Yes,  _mom_ ,” Cody said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“You know, none of us here even have mothers,” Rex noted absentmindedly, “Except for those Togruta colonists, I guess.”

Cody stopped and stared at him for a few moments before dramatically sighing and rolling his eyes. Rex grinned at him. 

“Oh! This is important, I should’ve told you earlier,” Rex said, sitting on Wolffe’s bed and swinging his legs absentmindedly like he used to do when he was a Cadet, “Ahsoka can see and touch me, now.” 

Cody stopped again and looked at him in surprise, eyes wide, “Really? Did you figure out how?”

“I have a theory, but I wanted to talk to both of you at once at some point about it,” Rex replied.

“Yeah, I think I can manage that,” Cody said with a nod.

“After you go to the medbay, right?” Rex asked, “Who knows how many times you guys got electrocuted the last few days. Must’ve hurt.” 

Cody only nodded and turned to leave the quarters. Rex hopped up from Wolffe’s bed and moved to walk beside him. 

They passed Ahsoka on their way to the medbay. Ahsoka glanced from Cody to Rex repeatedly and lifted a questioning brow marking.

“Later,” Rex said, understanding her unspoken question, “Just gotta make sure this  _di’kut_ is checked out in the medbay, first.” 

Cody schooled his expression and suppressed a sigh as Ahsoka giggled quietly. The trio continued on their way to their destinations.

——————

Later, after Cody was released from the med-bay, the trio met up in an empty conference room. 

“Okay, Rex. What do you think caused us to be able to see you?” Cody asked, getting to business straight away. He was never as comfortable around Ahsoka as Rex was, mainly because they didn’t work together as often, and so he wanted the conversation to be over quickly. 

“This is just a guess, but I think it might have actually been the  _Keldabe_ Kisses ,” Rex answered. 

The two looked at him in confusion, and Rex remembered that they hadn’t actually been able to see him when he’d given them both one.

“Right. You couldn’t see me yet, but Cody, when you were holding my helmet and stuff and giving it the  _Keldabe_ Kiss , I gave you one back. Ahsoka, when you started crying in the cage, I gave you one then,” He explained.

“Aww, Rex, that’s so sweet,” Ahsoka said, smiling widely. Cody smiled as well, although it wasn’t as big as Ahsoka’s smile.

Rex blushed, “Erm, yeah. You were also both alone. I don’t know if it’s just the  _Keldabe_ , or if you have to be alone as well, or even if it’s just you being alone. You were also both pretty sad at those moments, which may have been a factor. Regardless, I’m pretty sure I’ve narrowed it down, which is better than where we were before.”

“Go try it out on Wolffe right now, if he’s not alone,” Cody said, perking up instantly.

Ahsoka lifted a brow marking, “But if it works and he sees Rex, wouldn’t that be kind of cruel?”

Cody nodded and smiled slightly, “Yes. That’s the point.” 

“Oh, for sure. I’ll be right back,” Rex said, hurrying out of the room. 

He returned a few minutes later, finding Ahsoka and Cody sitting in an awkward silence.

“Yeah, he wasn’t alone and it didn’t work. That also narrows it down,” Rex reported, “I gave him one hell of a chill, though.”

Cody looked satisfied and Ahsoka rolled her eyes at their antics. 

Rex sat himself down on the edge of the table in the room, and the trio sat in silence again. Cody’s comlink chimed, so he turned away from the others and answered.

“Commander Cody,” said the voice of the Chancellor cordially, “I am glad to see you and the Jedi have returned soundly.”

“Thank you, sir,” Cody said shortly.

“Right, on with business— I’m afraid you will need to rendezvous with the 212th. You are all needed in a skirmish in the Hosnian system,” The Chancellor continued.

“Yes, sir, I’ll have that arranged. Will General Kenobi be joining us?” Cody asked.

“No, the I’ve seen it fit to give the Jedi a reprieve after the recent ordeals they went through,” The Chancellor replied, “You understand, certainly?” Ahsoka and Rex exchanged glances at that, both frowning.

Cody paused and then sighed, “Of course, sir. Will that be all?” 

“Yes. Thank you, Commander,” The Chancellor said. Cody ended the call and sighed loudly.

“That isn’t fair!” Ahsoka exclaimed, jumping to her feet angrily, “Why don’t you get to rest, too?” 

“Hate to remind you, commander, but we aren’t considered sentient in the eyes of most people,” Rex spat, anger burning in the pit of his stomach, “Clones are no better than  _objects_ to most.”

He saw Cody and Ahsoka’s eyes widen for a moment, and they exchanged looks with each other.

“What?” Rex asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Nothing, Rex,” Cody said in a reassuring tone, “I’m sure it’ll all be fine. No need to get so up in arms about it all.”

“I know you agree with me, though. You just can’t speak freely about it,” Rex said, giving him a pointed glare and clenching his jaw in frustration.

“Whatever. Senator Amidala’s working on that bill for it, isn’t she? Maybe that’ll help,” Cody responded. 

Ahsoka, who had been listening to their exchange silently, nodding in agreement, “Yeah. She’s super convincing, I’m sure it’ll get the ball rolling, at least.” 

“I hope it’ll be enough,” Rex said with a sigh, “You all deserve so much better.” 

Cody sighed as well and whispered, “So did you.”  


Rex stared at the ground, a deep sadness overtaking him for a few moments. Cody and Ahsoka exchanged glances again, unseen by him.

“I’m gonna go mess with Wolffe to cheer myself up,” Rex announced, suddenly standing from his seat.

“Alright. I guess I’ll call myself a transport to the 212th,” Cody replied.

“And I’ll go find Anakin,” Ahsoka added. Rex nodded curtly at the two of them and left the room, searching for Wolffe so that he could antagonize him with chills. 

After he left the room, Ahsoka turned to Cody, eyes wide, “What were those... those  _flickers_ ?”

Cody shook his head, “I don’t know. I think they happen because of his emotions. He looks... he looks  _dead_ dead when he’s angry about something, and he looks like a cadet when he’s sad.” 

Ahsoka frowned and furrowed her brows, “The cadet Rex I can handle, but the  _dead_ dead Rex... His eyes were so... glazed over. The dirt, the blood, the... the huge  _hole_ in his abdomen.” She shuddered and stared at the doorway Rex had exited through moments earlier.

Cody sighed again, “I know. It’s... disturbing, and I don’t think he’s aware that it happens.” 

“I wonder _why_ that happens,” Ahsoka said as they began to leave the conference room as well. 

“I wish I knew, Commander,” Cody said, frown crossing his face, “I wish I knew.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rex being brotherly with Ahsoka: oh dear, oh gorgeous  
> Rex being brotherly with Cody: YOU KRIFFING DONKEY
> 
> So, I’ve been writing a lot of fics lately, but I literally have nothing better to do. School’s been cancelled for the next few days due to all the snow and power outages and so I might as well write, right? Right.
> 
> Hehe can you tell what arc I’m setting up?? Mwahahaha
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Kudos are great but reviews keep me going :) I’m on tumblr at ameanstoanendor, come yell at me on there!


	6. Deception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan Kenobi’s been killed, but something doesn’t seem right to Rex. He looks into it and discovers the shocking truth.

After some discussion between the three of them, it was decided that Rex would stay with Ahsoka while Cody went off with the 212th. Ahsoka felt bad about keeping Rex all to herself, but Cody insisted, saying that he knew Rex would be safe with her. 

Rex had, of course, reminded him that he’d be safe with either of them, seeing as nothing could really harm him anymore (as far as they knew), but Cody had rolled his eyes and admitted that he also didn’t want to be too distracted since he was the sole leader on this mission. Rex understood that and returned to Coruscant with Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan. 

He and Ahsoka didn’t have very many opportunities to talk with each other, though. She was always busy and rarely alone, and he didn’t want her to look like she was insane. He took to wandering the Jedi Temple in that time, taking in the details like he hadn’t been able to before his death. It really did have gorgeous architecture. He’d explored nearly the entire thing during the few days of leave they had.

In the time they did have to talk to each other, Ahsoka would catch him up on her studies and he’d listen and ask questions, similar to what they’d do when he was still alive. For a few moments, they could pretend everything was normal.

They’d also comm Cody every now and then, which is how they discovered that Rex couldn’t be seen through comm; they had to be there in person to see him. 

Towards the end of their leave, Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan decided to go out to eat after a Jedi council meeting that Obi-Wan had just finished. 

Rex let them have their time together and went to the 501st barracks to mess around with Jesse and Fives. He hadn’t had a chance to test if he could get them to see him, yet, as the two were rarely ever alone. Jesse had recently been promoted to Captain, though, and he couldn’t be prouder. He wished Cody was here so he could relay the message— they didn’t know Ahsoka could see him yet, either. He was relegated to giving them chills to let them know he was around. 

Eventually, they worked out a system of communication: Jesse and Fives would ask yes or no questions. If Rex’s answer was no, he’d give Jesse a chill, and if it was yes, he’d give Fives a chill. It was crude, but it worked.

“Hey, um, Captain?” Jesse asked on that evening in a small voice, “Are you... are you okay with my promotion?”

Rex swiped his arm through Fives’ shoulder at that, making the ARC jump up, startled. 

“Oh, that was a bad chill, Jess. I think he’s proud,” Fives told him with a smile. Rex swatted Fives again to let him know that he was correct.

“Of course I’m proud,” Rex said, his statement falling upon deaf ears, “Now if one of you could just leave so I could see if I can get you to see me and I could tell you that myself, that’d be great.”

Jesse smiled slightly, not hearing his captain’s lament, “Good. I’m just... I feel guilty about taking over, is all.”

“C’mon, Jesse, everyone knows you’re the most qualified to take over, anyways. And Rex just said himself he’s happy with it,” Fives said, nudging Jesse’s arm gently with his elbow. Rex nodded along in agreement.

“Yeah, well, I’m not happy I had to be promoted in the first place,” Jesse grumbled.

The doors to the training room the three of them were in suddenly slammed open before they could ask any more questions of their captain.

In burst Ahsoka, an absolutely devastated expression upon her face. Her eyes immediately landed on Rex sitting in front of the two troopers. He pushed himself up quickly, immediately sensing her anguish.

“Rex,” she breathed, running towards him immediately pulling him into a hug. Jesse and Fives exchanged confused looks in the background.

“Kid, what’s wrong?” Rex asked as she buried her face into his neck.

“It’s Obi-Wan,” she said, breath catching, “He’s dead.”

All three troopers in the room stiffened at that.

“What? How?” Rex asked incredulously. She began sobbing and Rex lowered them both into a sitting position on the ground. Fives and Jesse looked torn between leaving the room to give them privacy and staying. After all, they could only really see what was happening on Ahsoka’s side; it looked to them as though she was hugging thin air. They apparently decided to stay, though.

“There— there was a— a sniper,” Ahsoka managed between sobs, “Started— started firing at us when we were— going to Dex’s. Hit Obi-Wan. He— he walked right  _into_ it!”

Rex hugged her closer to him after that. He knew that was a simplification of events, but something felt off to him. Obi-Wan had survived many firefights against droids in the past few years, and now he’s been taken out by a simple sniper? It felt wrong. Especially the part about him walking into it— he knew there was a sniper firing at them. He should have known better, and either way, he’s a  _Jedi_ . He could have avoided it.

Still, Obi-Wan had died, somehow, and Rex now had a sobbing Padawan in his arms. It was so soon after his own death. She and Anakin truly didn’t deserve this.

Kriff.  _Anakin_ .

“Ahsoka,” Rex asked softly, “Where’s Skywalker?”

“He said he wanted to be alone,” Ahsoka replied, pulling away and studying him closely, “They’re already planning the funeral for tomorrow. I called Duchess Satine— she’s flying in and is gonna be there.”

Rex frowned slightly. Everything felt  _wrong_ , but he couldn’t pinpoint the feeling. 

“What?” Ahsoka asked, arching a brow marking at him. She rubbed her red-rimmed eyes with the palm of her hand and sniffled.

“Nothing,” Rex said, “Has anyone told Cody yet?”

“Master Windu said he’d contact him,” Ahsoka replied. Rex nodded, thinking it was convenient that the 212th was away while something like this happened. It all felt too... too  staged to him. Something didn’t add up. He didn’t voice any of these thoughts to Ahsoka, though.

“Oh, sorry Fives and Jesse, I didn’t even say hi,” Ahsoka said, finally realizing that Rex hadn’t been alone.

“No problem with that Commander,” Fives answered, “We didn’t know you could see Rex, is all.”

Ahsoka nodded vigorously, “Yeah. That happened at Zygerria. We actually have a few theories on how it happened!”

Fives and Jesse stared at her in piqued interest, obviously trying to distract her from her grief.

She opened her mouth to continue, but her comlink went off. She sighed, “Oh, it’s Anakin. He probably needs me with him. I should go. Sorry, guys!” She pushed herself off the ground. Rex stood by her side immediately and left the training room with her, leaving Fives and Jesse to themselves again. 

She answered her comm once she was out of the room.

“Ahsoka,” Anakin said through the comlink, voice hoarse, “Are you in the temple?”

“No, master, I’m in the 501st barracks,” Ahsoka replied, “I’m heading back to the temple now, though.”

“Good, good,” Anakin said, clearing his throat, “Good. Come to our quarters as soon as you get here?”

“Of course, Anakin,” Ahsoka replied. 

“Good. See you soon,” Anakin said, ending the call.

Ahsoka and Rex walked in silence for a few moments before Ahsoka sighed loudly and sniffled again, rapidly blinking away tears that were building in her eyes. 

“Hey, little’un, it’s okay,” Rex said, rubbing her back gently as they walked. 

“It’s not fair,” she whispered, taking a shuddering breath, “The Force already took you from us. Why’d it have to take him, too?” 

Rex found that he didn’t have a good answer for that, and so he stayed silent for the rest of their trip to the Temple.

When Ahsoka went into her shared quarters with Anakin, Rex decided to stay outside. He didn’t want to intrude on something private like this. He stayed out in the hallway and sighed heavily, plopping onto the ground and bringing his knees up to his chest.

He hated this feeling of uselessness he’d had ever since he died. He was watching those he cared about falling further into a rut, and he was unable to do anything about it. It broke his heart.

“Young one,” a voice said. Rex’s head snapped up. Standing before him with the ghostly form of the Jedi he’d seen the day he died.

“You again,” Rex said in a confused tone, tilting his head curiously.

“Yes, me again,” the mysterious Jedi said, chuckling, “After the funeral tomorrow, I suggest that you follow Yoda and Master Windu.”

Rex lifted an eyebrow, “You appeared again just to tell me that?” Quite frankly, he was unimpressed and a little underwhelmed. 

“Well,” the Jedi said, “You wanted to be useful.” 

Rex scowled at him, but softened his features and sighed, “Thanks, I guess.” 

The Jedi smiled and nodded, “Normally I would not have interfered, but the darkness has been especially strong lately. Have you felt it?”

Rex shook his head slowly, “No. Like you said the first time we met, I’m not force sensitive.”

The Jedi shrugged, “This is true. Still, you’ve nevertheless felt as though something has been off lately, haven’t you?”

“Everything’s been off, lately,” Rex deadpanned, “I’m dead... and so is General Kenobi, it seems. Did you know him?”

The Jedi smiled mischievously at that, “Did I know him? Yes, I did. I still do.” 

Rex lifted an eyebrow. Did that mean... that Obi-Wan wasn’t actually dead? He frowned to himself and turned to ask the Jedi what he meant, but he’d vanished. 

Kriffing Jedi and their overly vague suggestions.

The next day, Rex attended Obi-Wan’s funeral. Ahsoka looked even more devastated than she did the night before, and Anakin looked murderous. It made Rex slightly uncomfortable, aware that his general had tendencies to act out on his emotions, despite what the Jedi teachings may be.

After the funeral, just as the Jedi had told him to the night before, he followed Yoda and Windu. They ended up in an isolated medbay in a part of the Temple that Rex didn’t even know existed. 

Sitting inside was Obi-Wan Kenobi, alive and well. 

“So, how was my funeral?” Obi-Wan asked.

Rex gaped in shock at the sight and eavesdropped on the conversation that followed. Apparently, it was a ploy they created in order to protect the Chancellor from a potential kidnapping. 

Rex’s blood boiled at the sight. He understood that the Chancellor had to be protected, but surely there were better ways of doing it? Fooling everyone who loved you into thinking you died in their arms was not the best way to go about this. They apparently hadn’t told anyone so that their reactions would be authentic, which was a load of banthashit, if you asked Rex. 

“General,” Rex roared, fully aware that he would not be heard, “How  _could_ you? They’ve been through enough recently, don’t you think?”

He clenched his fists angrily and punched the wall, furious when his fist merely passed through it. 

Anakin. He had to tell Anakin that Obi-Wan was alive. He deserved to know. 

After watching the disturbing process of Obi-Wan transform into Rako Hardeen, he stormed out of the room in order to find Anakin. 

It was easy enough to find him. He was alone in his quarters, angrily taking apart a mouse droid of all things. Rex remembered that Anakin liked to fiddle with machines when he was upset; it was one of the few things that could take his mind off of his issues.

The young Knight yelled in frustration at something and threw his wrench across the room. It hit the wall with a loud smack and left a hole in it. 

Rex was just as angry, but he knew it was for different reasons. As far as Anakin knew, Rako Hardeen had killed his master. Rex needed to tell him otherwise.

Sucking up his pride, he knelt down and pressed his forehead against Anakin’s, praying to the Force that it would work and Anakin would see him. 

He stepped away slowly and regarded Anakin for a few moments, trying to work up the courage to test if Anakin could see him now.

“General,” he said softly. Anakin’s head snapped up, and he stared at Rex’s ghostly form with something akin to surprise, but it quickly turned to sadness and anger.

“Oh, good,” he said, “Now I’m hallucinating.” He stood up to walk past Rex and grab his wrench, apparently forgetting that he could use the Force to call it back to him.

“General, you aren’t hallucinating,” Rex said gently, grabbing Anakin’s shoulder as he stalked past, forcing the young Jedi to look him in the eyes.

“Listen to me... Anakin,” Rex said, hesitating before saying his general’s first name. They were in private right now, of course, so he was free to use it. 

“Rex, this isn’t possible,” Anakin said, “I need some sleep... or, or something. I should talk to Master Yoda.”

“No, you shouldn’t, because he, Windu, and Kenobi are all playing you right now,” Rex said angrily, “and this is possible. I’m here. Cody and Ahsoka can see me, too. Cody since after we left Umbara, and Ahsoka since Zygerria.”

Anakin stared at him with a bewildered expression. Ahsoka walked into the quarters at that moment with a bag of takeout food, setting it on the counter and stopping short at the sight of Anakin staring at Rex.

“Oh,” she said softly, not knowing what else to say.

“Good, you’re here, too. You deserve to hear this,” Rex said, finally releasing Anakin’s shoulder.

“Snips... tell me I’m not going insane right now,” Anakin said slowly, studying Rex carefully.

“You’re not insane, Skyguy, I can see Rex, too,” Ahsoka said gently.

“But... how?” Anakin asked, sitting down on the couch behind him. 

“I don’t know why, but I’m a ghost, and that’s about all there is to it,” Rex said shortly, “That’s not as important right now. You guys need to know about this. Ahsoka, you might want to sit down, too.”

“What happened, Rex?” Ahsoka asked as she sat down on the couch beside Anakin.

“What did you mean by Yoda, Windu, and Obi-Wan ‘playing’ me?” Anakin added.

Rex sighed and ran his hand across his head nervously, “I followed Yoda and Windu after the funeral.”

“Why?” Ahsoka asked, arching a brow marking.

“‘Cause that Jedi told me to,” Rex answered with a shrug.

“What Jedi?” Anakin asked.

“Oh,” Rex said with a sigh. He knew that he was overwhelming Anakin right now, but he really had to tell him what he’d seen. Still, he explained the appearance of the mysterious Jedi again, this time also talking about what he had been told the night before.

“What’d he look like?” Anakin asked, “He said he knew— or knows?— Obi-Wan, so maybe I know him or have at least heard of him.”

Rex described the Jedi’s tall stature and long hair. Anakin gaped at him for a few moments at the description before whispering, “That sounds like Qui-Gon Jinn. He was Obi-Wan’s master, and he’s the one who found me on Tattooine and bought my freedom.”

“That’s... hmm. That makes a lot of sense, actually,” Rex said, nodding slowly, “But anyways, he told me to follow Yoda and Windu after the funeral. So I did.”

He took a deep breath and ran his hand across his head again, “They went to this isolated medbay in the Temple, in a part of it I didn’t even know existed. And I’ve had a lot of time to search every nook and cranny of this place the past few days. Inside, alive and well, was none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

The pair gasped at that. Ahsoka seemed to believe him, but Anakin looked doubtful at the revelation.

Ignoring their reactions, Rex barreled on, “He said, and I quote, ‘How was my funeral?’” He explained the rest of the conversation he’d overheard, about how Obi-Wan had been the one to hire his own assassin, about the potential kidnapping of the Chancellor, about Obi-Wan going undercover as Rako Hardeen. As he continued, he felt rage boiling in his blood again. He clenched his jaw and fists and glared angrily at the wall as he finished his explanation. 

He was so caught up in his own emotions that he didn’t notice Ahsoka stand up and approach him hesitantly, nor did he notice Anakin’s horrified expression as he stared at his former captain.

“Rex,” Ahsoka said gently, taking a clenched fist, uncurling it, and clasping his hand within her own, “You need to calm down.”

“Why?” He asked, vaguely noting an ache in his stomach, “How are you so calm? You’re being  _used_ !”

“Rex,” Anakin said slowly in a dumbfounded tone, “You’re  _dead_ .”

Rex lifted an eyebrow and huffed in frustration, “I know. I don’t see what that’s got to do with—“ he cut himself off when the dull ache in his stomach became a stabbing pain. He wrenched his hand from Ahsoka’s grasp and doubled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his stomach and gritting his teeth at the pain. He suddenly remembered that he hadn’t been able to feel  _anything_ before this. 

He fell heavily onto the ground, draped on his side, and curled in on himself. He removed his arms from their grip around his stomach in order to spare a look at the source of the pain, and gasped upon seeing his dirty armor and the charred stab wound Krell had given him. He thought he could feel blood dribbling down his chin again, and his vision was blurred.

Ahsoka took his hand again and rubbed circles in his back in the spaces of his armor with her other hand, “Calm down, Rex. Breathe with me.” 

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. Inhale through his nose, count to three, exhale through his mouth, repeat. After a few moments, the pain in his stomach vanished as quickly as it appeared. 

Cracking an eye open, he saw that his armor was back to being perfectly pristine. The charred whole in his abdomen had vanished. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. Ahsoka sat down right beside him, and he leaned into her for support. 

After a few moments of tense silence between the three of them, Anakin finally asked, “What was  _that_ ?”

Rex took a shuddering breath and shook his head, “I don’t know, sir. That’s never happened before.”

“Well...” Ahsoka said, “It happened when we were in the conference room with Cody after the 104th rescued us from Kadavo. And Cody said it had happened before, but both times they were only short flickers, not something prolonged like that. He think they’re connected to your emotions. When you’re angry, you look dead, and when you’re sad, you look like a little kid. A cadet, Cody called it.”

“Oh,” Rex said breathlessly, “Why didn’t you guys tell me?”

“Sorry... They were so short and you didn’t seem to notice them, so we didn’t worry about them too much. Maybe we should, now,” Ahsoka replied apologetically. 

“No, right now we need to focus on Kenobi and the Jedi Council deceiving everyone,” Rex said, shaking his head, not moving from his upright position on the ground, “Ignore that stuff for now.”

Anakin and Ahsoka exchanged a glance but then nodded in unison. They could both tell that he wanted them to drop the subject, which was easier said than done for the two of them. They knew that they wouldn’t be able to convince Rex to talk about it any further, though, and decided to continue the discussion they’d been having before it got derailed in such a shocking manner.

“Sure, I guess,” Anakin said slowly, “I didn’t really have time to process what you said before... your, um, attack or whatever that was, but...”

He sighed loudly and closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to his head and rubbing his temples, “Yeah. This whole plan is messed up. I can see why you were so angry. I’m... I’m angry, too.”

Ahsoka nodded in agreement, “There are so many other ways they could have dealt with this and they chose to make us believe Obi-Wan died. He ‘died’ in my arms. This is... this is a cruel, sick mission.”

Both now looked properly angry, and Rex was satisfied. He’d brought it to their attention. What they did next wasn’t for him to worry about. However, he was curious...

“What should we do next?” Ahsoka asked, mind obviously wandering to the same place, “We can’t just ruin this whole mission... can we?”

Anakin sighed, “It would put the Chancellor at risk... but... we can protect him some other way. You were right— there are many other ways they could have taken care of this. Maybe they could have some Jedi stationed with him at all times. I just need Obi-Wan  back so that I can yell at him.” 

“Oh, man,” Rex said, smacking his forehead with his hand, “Someone has to tell Cody the truth.”

“This information is too sensitive to talk about over a comlink, though,” Anakin pointed out, “They’re already gonna be wondering how Ahsoka and I found out. I don’t want to put any of your brothers at risk by letting the information leak to them— Ahsoka and I will be fine, but your brothers... I don’t know what would happen if it’s decided that somehow, one of  _them_ was the leak. Padmé’s got that clone rights bill proposed, but it doesn’t have much traction yet. Something bad could happen.”

“Oh. I, erm, appreciate that, sir,” Rex said with a short nod, ignoring the fact that Anakin called the senator by her first name, “This stays between us, then.”

“Yeah. For now,” Anakin said, “Rex, what are they expecting Ahsoka and I to do?”

“They’re expecting you to hunt down and arrest Rako Hardeen,” Rex answered easily, “They know you’re angry.”

“Oh, I’m angry alright,” Anakin growled, “Just not for the reason they think I am. Fine. Ahsoka and I will go arrest him, but we’re gonna have a conversation with him before we turn him in...  _if_ we turn him in, that is.”

“And how are we going to explain how we found out? Do we tell him about Rex?” Ahsoka asked.

“Oh, I’d love to yell at him, but... I don’t know. I’m not sure I want the Jedi High Council questioning me about all of this, and we all know he’d tell them,” Rex said, “‘Sides, they’d have to use you guys as translators and that’d get tedious pretty quickly.”

“Ohhh, that’s fair,” Ahsoka said with a nod.

“I definitely don’t want the Council knowing about... your unique situation yet, Rex,” Anakin said, “Especially not now.”

“Yeah... it’s been a rough couple of weeks, hasn’t it?” Rex asked, absentmindedly holding his hand up and staring  _through_ it. 

Anakin placed his hand on Rex’s shoulder and heaved a sigh, “Yeah. We need an  actual break.”

“Well...  _I_ can take one anytime I want.  _You’re_ not so lucky,” Rex teased.

“Ha ha, Rex, very funny,” Anakin said with a roll of his eyes. He stood up and stretched and before looking at Rex with a very serious expression.

“I know that I should be angrier right now and that this situation really sucks but... I’m glad you’re here, Rex. You’ve been missed,” Anakin said, smiling sadly at the blond captain.

“Well, I’ve been here this whole time,” Rex pointed out, “You just couldn’t see me.”

“Get out of here with your technicalities,” Anakin said, swatting Rex’s shoulder playfully before turning to Ahsoka, “Snips, let’s go hunt down ‘Rako Hardeen’ and give him a piece of our minds, eh?” 

“Sounds great, Skyguy,” Ahsoka said, hopping up from her position next to Rex, “Wanna follow?”

“I’ve got nothing better to do,” Rex said, standing up with them. 

The trio headed out together. Anakin and Ahsoka assumed the appropriate personas of people who were furious and on a death-mission, with nothing able to get in their way. 

Finding Rako Hardeen in Coruscant was easy enough. He wanted to be found by them, after all. A short fight ensued, but Anakin and Ahsoka easily took the upper hand and cornered him in a desolate alleyway.

As soon as Anakin laid eyes upon his visage, he practically snarled at him and said with a cold venom, “ _Obi-Wan_ .”

‘Rako Hardeen’ smiled coldly, “Yeah, I killed that Jedi scum.”

“No,” Anakin said, glaring at him, “You  _are_ Obi-Wan. I’m not clueless.”

Rako Hardeen lifted an eyebrow at that, “I think you’re delirious, Jedi.”

“No, he’s not,” Ahsoka said, “You’re Obi-Wan Kenobi, and you’re lying to us. We know the whole plot behind this.”

“Fake your death, go undercover as a bounty hunter, save the Chancellor. Hurt everyone who cares about you in the process,” Anakin said, “How  _could_ you?”

All of Hardeen’s bravado melted and his body language practically  screamed ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’

“Anakin, I—“ He began.

“ _No_ ,” Anakin growled, “Don’t you think we’ve been through enough recently? Rex only died a couple of weeks ago, and Zygerria was only a week ago, as well. Why would you do this to us?”

Obi-Wan sighed, bringing his hand up to his chin as he normally did, although the gesture looked foreign in his current state.

“How did you find out?” He asked carefully.

“We have our ways, Master,” Ahsoka said.

“Of all things,  _that’s_ what you ask? How did we  _find out_ ?” Anakin asked, enraged, stepping threateningly towards Obi-Wan. 

“General,” Rex said from behind them all, stepping into Anakin’s field of vision as he spoke, “Take a deep breath. Don’t do anything you’ll regret later on.”

Anakin visibly deflated and took a step backwards, sighing heavily. Rex smiled reassuringly at him, and for good measure, swatted a hand through Obi-Wan’s shoulder

“Anakin, Ahsoka, I’m sorry... The Chancellor must be protected. Surely you must understand,” Obi-Wan said carefully, shuddering at Rex’s touch.

“I know he must be protected, but there’s got to be another way to do it,” Anakin said, eyes flicking to Rex for a moment before flicking back towards Obi-Wan, “He’s my friend, you know. I just don’t think faking your death and hurting everyone you care about is the best way to go about something like this.”

“What about Satine? She was at your funeral,” Ahsoka said, “And the clones, Commander Cody? Can you imagine what they must be thinking right now, away on some mission in the Outer Rim, unable to do anything at all, like properly grieve, because they’re fighting a war they never had a say in? Cody just lost Rex, and he was enslaved on Kadavo with you and didn’t even get a break. Now he’s lost you, too.” 

Rex set a grateful hand on her shoulder and whispered “Thank you.”

Obi-Wan looked properly guilty now and all three of them were somewhat satisfied.

Anakin sighed, “I’ll let you finish this mission. I’ll turn you in just like you had planned. But when this is all over, we’re going to have a real discussion. Face-to-actual-face.” 

“Thank you. I understand,” Obi-Wan said, “I am truly sorry.”

Anakin’s face softened just slightly, “I know you are. But that still doesn’t make it okay. Not yet.”

They turned him in to the Coruscant Guard, making sure to properly jostle him around, and returned to the Temple.

Once they were back in their quarters, Anakin draped across the couch with a heavy sigh.

“That was terrible,” He stated matter-of-factly, “I hated every minute of that.”

The other two hummed in agreement.

Anakin looked suddenly towards Rex, “Hey, thank you for finding out and telling me.”

“Of course. It was my duty, as your friend,” Rex said, “You guys and my brothers are all I have left to be loyal to, anyways.”

Anakin and Ahsoka smiled sadly at him. Ahsoka set about making tea, and the three sat in silence for a few moments.

“Hey, Rex? Can we talk about what happened to you earlier, now?” Ahsoka asked when she was finished, bringing a steaming mug over to Anakin and sitting in a chair by the table. 

Rex, who was sitting on the ground between them, looked off to the side, “What’s there to talk about?”

“Come on, Rex, don’t shut us out,” Anakin said, “We want to help you like you helped us.”

Rex sighed and shrugged, “I don’t know what happened earlier. I don’t know why it happened. I don’t know why  _any_ of this happened to me.”

“Maybe we should figure it out,” Ahsoka said, “What’s that thing the Jedi— Qui-Gon— told you when you first saw him on Umbara?”

“He said there’s a darkness coming and everyone’s too blind to see it,” Rex replied, “He didn’t know exactly why I’m a ghost, said he thought the Force chose me for a task. And that it thinks I’m strong.”

He laughed wryly and ran his hand across his head, “I don’t feel very strong right now. I haven’t since I was alive.” 

A deep sense of sadness overtook him for a moment.

“Oh, there’s the cadet Rex,” Ahsoka said softly. Rex held his hands out in front of him and noted that he was much smaller and was wearing the blues that young cadets wore on Kamino.

“Hmm,” he muttered, noting with dissatisfaction that his voice was also that of a child’s. As suddenly as it happened, he again switched back to his normal age and size.

“That’s... weird,” Rex said, looking up at Anakin and Ahsoka with an exhausted expression. 

“Okay, so here’s what I think we need to do: We need to go through the Archives and see if there’s anything on a ghost afterlife or something. And we also need to see if you can learn to control these switches, or if they’re exclusively attached to your emotions,” Anakin said, draining the last of the tea from his mug. 

Rex nodded in agreement, “That sounds like a good plan.”

They decided that they’d go to the Archives the next day and do some research. By now, it was pretty late, so Anakin and Ahsoka went to sleep while Rex stayed out in their living room.

He wanted nothing more than to be with Cody. Sure, he was glad that Anakin could see him, now, but Cody had always meant something more to him. They had grown up together. Cody was the reason he had lasted as long as he had. It had been an emotionally exhausting day and he wanted a hug from his brother.

He sighed and closed his eyes, wishing (not for the first time) that he could fall asleep.

The sounds of the city outside faded away around him and shifted into the steady sound of a ship in hyperspace. Rex noticed the shift and opened his eyes, shocked to find himself in Cody’s quarters on the  Negotiator instead of the living room of Anakin and Ahsoka’s apartment. 

Cody was sitting at his desk with a datapad in front of him and had yet to notice the appearance of his younger brother. He was holding his head in his hands, eyes closed.

Rex quietly pushed himself up, wondering how he had ended up here, but decided it was some ghost ability that he didn’t understand. He filed it under ‘things to worry about later’ as he walked over to his brother’s side and kneeled down next to him. 

In a soft tone, so as not to startle him, he whispered, “Cody.”

Cody was still startled. He jumped slightly and looked at Rex with red-rimmed eyes. 

“Rex.” His brother didn’t seem to be capable of even wondering how Rex had ended up here, and instead pulled him into a hug with no further words.

The two brothers spent the rest of the evening holding each other close, thankful to be with the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Super long chapter (for me at least)! Over 5K words! And a heavy one, too. Not entirely happy with how it turned out, but hey, it was fun to write.
> 
> I wrote so much last week that I was struggling to write anything this week, and I also had a lot of stuff due. I got it all done, though, and there’s been quite a few weights lifted off of my shoulders because of that!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> I’m on tumblr at ameanstoanendor! Come yell at me :)


	7. Travels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex experiments with his newfound ability of teleportation and makes another shocking discovery.

At some point in the night, Cody had fallen asleep. Rex had gently picked him up and put him in his bed before sitting down on the ground and leaning against the bed frame. 

He sighed heavily, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Now that he was certain his older brother was alright, he decided to try and figure out how he’d ended up on the  _Negotiator_ in the first place. 

Rex figured that since he had been thinking about being with Cody, if he thought about being back in Anakin and Ahsoka’s living room, he’d return there. Nodding to himself, he squeezed his eyes shut tighter and concentrated. 

It took a lot more tries this time around, along with some swears that he only remembered to whisper last second so he wouldn’t wake Cody up, but eventually he did find himself back on Coruscant in Anakin and Ahsoka’s living room, the cacophony of sounds from the city alerting him that it had worked.

Giddy with excitement at his newfound ability, Rex then decided to practice going in between the two locations, also realizing that it would probably be good for him to be with Cody when he woke up. 

Again, it took longer to get there than it had the first time, but eventually he figured it out. Satisfied, he sat by Cody’s bedside again and waited for him to wake up. 

When Cody finally did wake up, he rolled over, caught sight of Rex, and shot up to a sitting position, startled.

“Force, Rex, I forgot you were here,” he said, running his hand down his face in an effort to wake himself up, “How’d you even get here?”

“At first, it was an accident,” Rex said, grinning, “I was just thinking about how I wanted to be with you so we could hug, since it’d been a rough day, and then suddenly I was here. But then I figured out I could move between places if I concentrated hard enough— it’ll take some practice, though, because when I went back to Coruscant and then back here again, it took more tries.”

Cody nodded and shook his head in amusement, “You never fail to impress me.”

“I wonder what other things I can do?” Rex said, sounding like an excited child, “I mean, that’s the only fun thing I can do so far. Hey, speaking of, I wish you’d told me about those flickers I’ve been having.”

Cody paused and grimaced at the flat stare Rex was leveling on him, “They were short and you didn’t seem to notice, so—“

“I know,” Rex interrupted, “Ahsoka told me. Only after I had one that lasted for awhile yesterday when I got very frustrated at—“ he cut himself off, wondering whether or not he should tell Cody about what he’d discovered, or if that would be putting his brother at risk.

“Frustrated at what, Rex?” Cody asked, this time giving Rex his own glare.

Rex hesitated and then sighed. Cody deserved to know the truth.

“Okay, I’m going to preface this by saying that you cannot, under any circumstances, tell anyone else about this because it’d be putting you all at risk. If any of the higher ups find out you know, they’ll immediately blame you as a leak and you’ll be in danger. That’s why Anakin and Ahsoka didn’t comm you about this yesterday— it’s too sensitive to be talked about over comms,” Rex began.

Cody nodded slowly, “You’re making me a little anxious here, Rex ol’ boy.”

Rex chuckled slightly before immediately becoming somber. He took a deep breath, “Better to get it out quickly. General Kenobi’s alive.”

Cody’s eyes widened and he blanched, “What do you mean? Didn’t— didn’t Commader Tano hold him as he... as he...?”

Rex nodded and told him his discovery and all of the other events that had transpired the day before.

At the end of his story, Cody shook his head in frustration, “Yeah, I can see why you got upset. That’s messed up.”

“Yeah. He did what he thought was right, though, and even Obi-Wan Kenobi’s not perfect,” Rex said, “He and Skywalker are going to have a chat when he gets back from the mission. I think I may be there to moderate, just to make sure that Skywalker doesn’t say or do anything he might regret later on.”

“Good idea. He does tend to act out on his emotions a lot, which is... I don’t know. It doesn’t seem very Jedi-like to me,” Cody said contemplatively.

“Well, Skywalker’s anything but a typical Jedi. I just know he’s really angry this time around because he was mad at even the Chancellor,” Rex replied, “It takes a lot for him to get mad at the Chancellor.”

Cody scoffed, “Yeah, they’re all buddy-buddy with each other. Kind of disturbing, if you ask me.”

Rex sighed and shook his head, “I agree completely.” He suddenly got a mischievous look on his face and grinned at Cody.

“You know, before, I couldn’t say anything about what I thought of the Chancellor and him and Skywalker but now... now they can’t do anything about that,” Rex said, grin widening.

“Ohh, I like where this is going,” Cody said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“I think, next time Skywalker goes to talk with the Chancellor, I might tag along. And then tell Skywalker what I really think of Palpatine,” Rex continued. His smile wavered, though, and then he frowned, “But... maybe I should wait until this whole debacle with Kenobi’s finished. Skywalker’s already stressed as it is and I know he won’t take well to me disparaging the name of his old pal Palpatine.” 

“Yeah,” Cody agreed, “Probably best for you to wait on that, then.” He glanced at a datapad tocheck the time and jumped out of bed.

“Force, we’ve been talking for awhile. I’ve got to get ready,” He said, slipping back into his armor.

“I should probably get back to Coruscant, then,” Rex said, “We were going to the Archives in the Temple today to see if they said anything about my unique situation.”

“Good idea,” Cody said with a nod. A few moments later, he bid Rex farewell and left his quarters.

Rex closed his eyes and concentrated on Coruscant. After a few moments, he found himself back in Anakin and Ahsoka’s living room. 

Both of them were sitting on their couch eating breakfast and were greatly startled by Rex’s sudden appearance before them. Anakin was so startled that he threw the spoon from his cereal at him, which simply passed harmlessly through his translucent form and hit the floor behind him with a soft thud.

Rex gave him an unimpressed look while Ahsoka laughed at him. Anakin flushed and looked sheepish.

“Force, Rex, where’d you come from?” Anakin asked as he stood up to retrieve his spoon from the floor. After seemingly debating with himself for a few moments, he evidently decided to get a new one instead of using the same one.

Rex explained his newfound ability of teleportation, which got excited reactions from both of them.

“That is so cool!” Ahsoka exclaimed, “Think about how useful that would be on the battlefield if comms ever went down.”

Rex was reminded suddenly of Krell purposefully sabotaging their comms on Umbara, making it impossible for them to reach out to the 212th and tell them what was going on.

“Yeah,” he said wistfully, rubbing the back of his head, “It would’ve been real helpful.”

Ahsoka and Anakin exchanged looks with each other, realizing what must be going through his head.

“Well! We’ve got a fun day ahead of us in the Archives!” Anakin said cheerfully, doing his best to change the subject.

Rex shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts, and smiled at the two of them, “Really, General? Did you really just describe a day in the Archives as ‘fun?’”

“Yeah, Skyguy, I’ve heard you complain about the Archives at least 5 times,” Ahsoka added, winking over at Rex, who grinned back.

“Most of the time it sucks, Snips, but this time I’m helping a friend,” Anakin replied. Ahsoka stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to roll his eyes and turn away from her. He took both of their dishes and put them in their sink.

After that, they headed out to the Archives, hoping to find something worthwhile.

——————

They found absolutely nothing that explained Rex’s situation. Master Nu had been nothing short of shocked at seeing Anakin come to the Archives willingly, so she had accosted them with questions until her own curiosity was satisfied and she moved on to help some Initiates. 

“They should call her ‘Accost-a Nu’ instead of Jocasta Nu,” Anakin had muttered under his breath when she was finally out of their hair.

Ahsoka had stifled a laugh at that while Rex laughed openly. 

Regardless, the whole trip had turned out to be a bust. All the texts they found pertaining to death just said that all living beings passed on into the Force after they died and became part of it. 

“That was a waste of time,” Anakin said dejectedly once they returned to their apartment. 

“You’re telling me,” Ahsoka said, unceremoniously plopping down onto their couch.

Anakin’s comm chimed. He pulled it out of his belt, read the message, and smiled slightly to himself.

“I’ve gotta go. You’ll be fine here, Snips?” He said, returning the comm to its spot on his belt.

“Of course,” She replied, “I might go to the training room and blow off some steam later.”

“Sounds good. Rex?” Anakin asked, turning his attention to the ghostly clone.

“Oh, I’ll probably go to the barracks and bother Fives and Jesse, maybe try to get them to see me again,” Rex replied, “I’ll walk out with you.” 

They bid farewell to Ahsoka and left the room, heading towards the Temple’s exit.

“Soooo, General, you wouldn’t happen to be visiting Senator Amidala, would you?” Rex asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. 

Anakin looked around wildly before crossing his arms across his chest and whispering, “And what if I am?”

“Well, seeing as you’re working on the Clone Rights bill with her, it makes perfect sense,” Rex said, “You’re absolutely not doing anything else with her. Nope. Nothing  _at all_ .”

Anakin regarded him carefully before nodding, “Of course that’s what we’re doing.”

“Right,” Rex said. They were outside the Temple, now, and no one was around to hear their conversation (or, Anakin’s half of it), so he stopped walking and placed a hand on Anakin’s shoulder.

“Listen, Anakin,” he began, very purposefully using his first name, “I’ve seen the way you look at her. You love her... and that’s okay— I don’t give a kriff about the Jedi Code or anything and I won’t tell anyone. I’m dead, after all. But... if you ever need to tell me anything, I’m all ears, okay?”

Anakin stared at him with wide eyes before smiling, “Thanks, Rex. You’re a good man.” His tone was relieved and grateful and Rex couldn’t help but smile in return.

The two parted ways after that, Rex heading to the barracks. 

He found Fives, Jesse, and Kix alone in a room together, chatting idly about what their next assignment might be. They sat at a table, cards strewn out in front of them, although they had evidently abandoned their game at some point. 

Rex swiped a hand through Jesse’s shoulder to let him know he was there.

Jesse shuddered and then grinned, “Rex! We were just talking about you!”

“Yeah, we told Kix you were around but he doesn’t believe us yet. It’s really convenient you’re here now,” Fives continued. 

Kix looked between the two of them and rolled his eyes, “Listen, I know you miss the captain, but this really isn’t a healthy way to cope—“

He cut himself off as Rex swiped a hand through his shoulder and gave him a violent chill. 

Kix paused, mouth pressed into a thin line, “That had to have been a coincidence.” Rex gave him another chill and settled down into the seat next to him.

“Okay... so maybe there’s some merit in your story,” Kix said slowly, “But I still need more proof.”

“See! Somehow Commander Tano and Cody can see him and we still haven’t figured out how yet,” Jesse said.

“It’s all very... morbid, isn’t it?” Kix asked, “I mean, he’s still dead, right?”

“Well, yeah... what do you think a ghost is?” Jesse asked, rolling his eyes. At his side, Fives had gone quiet, eyes trained on the table between them.

“Yeah, but... that doesn’t fix what happened,” Kix said quietly. Jesse became quiet and stared at his hands while Fives continued to stare at the table. 

Rex sighed heavily and wished they could see him yet again so that he could give them the hugs they deserved and probably needed. 

“I miss them,” Fives said forlornly, “More than anything. I want them back. I hate this kriffing war.”

Jesse pulled Fives into a hug. 

“Glad you did that, Jess, because I would’ve done it myself if I could have,” Rex said. As he watched Jesse and Kix comfort Fives, his thoughts began to dwell on Echo, who had been lost only a couple months before he himself had been killed.

He hoped that Echo had gone out quickly and that he hadn’t suffered for too long. Sighing, he closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. Every time things seemed to be looking up, he was reminded of how messed up his situation actually was. He was tired of it. He would rather be truly dead than stuck as a ghost.

As Rex sat there, the chair beneath him disappeared, and he fell to the ground. Immediately, he pushed himself up onto his feet and took in his surroundings, realizing he’d accidentally teleported yet again. 

He was no longer in the barracks; instead, he was in what looked to be a lab, with shining tools lining the walls. He caught sight of a Skakoan leaving the room and realized he must be at the Techno Union headquarters. But why? Why had he teleported himself here?

As he surveyed the room closer, he found his answer. 

Laid out on a bed in the room was the broken body of a person. It looked as though they had three metal limbs and they were mumbling to themselves. Rex ran over to them, heart sinking when he saw that the person was unmistakably a brother. 

There was metal imbedded into him everywhere— his chest, his spine, his arm, his  _head_ . The Techno Union was using him as an experiment. 

The brother started mumbling again, and Rex strained to hear his words. 

“We have to get to the shuttle... to escape the Citadel. No! I’ll go first,” he was muttering.

Rex’s heart dropped even further. Now, he really knew why he’d accidentally teleported here: This clone was Echo. 

“Oh, Echo, what have they done to you?” Rex asked, hands hovering over his younger brother’s broken body. He wanted to reach out and touch him, to give him a hug and assure him that everything would be alright.

In a split second decision, Rex leaned in and pressed their foreheads together. Then, he hesitantly reached for Echo’s good hand and was relieved when he could grab it.

“Echo,” Rex said gently, “Echo, it’s me.”

Echo’s unfocused eyes landed on him, studying him closely, “Rex?”

“Yes,” Rex said, nodding encouragingly.

“You look like a hologram,” Echo said, “Are you here to rescue me?”

Rex grimaced. He should have thought this through! He couldn’t rescue Echo; even if he managed to get him out of here, there was no way for him to get off of this planet. Now he was filling Echo with a false sense of hope.

“I wish,” Rex said slowly, “I’ll tell the others. They’ll come and rescue you but I... I can’t. Not by myself.”

“Oh,” Echo said, licking his lips and letting out a dry cough, “This is a hallucination, then. Clever hallucination.”

“I’m so sorry, Echo,” Rex said, pulling him into a hug, “We shouldn’t have left you behind.”

“‘S’okay, you didn’t know. Didn’t expect you to know,” Echo said, “This hug feels very real.”

Rex gently let go of him, “It... is. But it’s... it’s complicated. I promise, I’ll go back and get you help from people who can actually do something.”

“‘M’kay,” Echo said, words starting to slur together, “It hurts real bad.”

“Oh, Echo,” Rex said, “I know. I know it hurts.”

“Hurts less when you touch me,” Echo said, “You feel nice.”

Rex lifted an eyebrow at that, “Is that so?” He gently held Echo’s good hand again.

“Yeah. Feels great,” Echo said with a slow nod, visibly relaxing. 

“Good. I’m glad. Listen, Echo... I’ve got to go. But I promise I’ll be back, okay?” Rex asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, sounds good,” Echo replied, giving him a weak thumbs up. The Skakoans returned to the room. 

Rex hesitated to leave Echo’s bedside, but forced himself to, making sure to give the Skakoans terrible chills as he walked past. 

He scouted their entire facility, making note of passages, hallways, twists and turns, so that he could lead anyone to Echo when he got that rescue crew together.

Then, he teleported himself back to Cody, this time only needing to try once.

Cody was on the bridge of the  _Negotiator_ , helmet on, but he dipped his helmet slightly to acknowledge Rex‘s reappearance.

“Cody, how quickly can you get somewhere private to talk?” Rex asked, frantic. 

Cody sensed his urgency and dipped his helmet again before turning to Boil, “I’ll be right back. I trust you can manage the affairs up here?”

“Of course, sir,” Boil said with a short nod.

Cody nodded back at him, turned on his heal, and left the bridge, Rex walking at his side.

Once he was back at his quarters, he removed his helmet and looked at Rex in concern.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“It’s... Force. Echo’s alive,” Rex replied, “He’s alive and the Techno Union’s using him as an experiment.”

Cody’s eyes widened in shock, “Force, Rex, how do you keep discovering these things?”

Rex explained how he’d been sitting with Fives, Jesse, and Kix, had been thinking about Echo, and then found himself in the laboratory on Skako Minor. 

“I don’t know what they’re planning to do with him, but they... they drilled into his head and put metal ports in,” Rex said, “Whatever it is, it can’t just be for  _fun_ .”

“You’re right,” Cody said, rubbing his chin with his hand like General Kenobi often did, “I’ll figure out a way to rescue him. There’s a group I work with sometimes that could help. But we can’t do anything without a Jedi’s help.”

“Then we’ll get General Skywalker to lead the rescue. Or Commander Tano,” Rex said.

“I doubt the High Council and the Senate will approve it. We don’t even have any proof other than...” Cody trailed off, deflating.

“Other than the word of a dead man. Yeah,” Rex said, brows furrowing as he thought it over, “But when has that ever stopped General Skywalker before?”

Cody chuckled, “True. Listen, I’ve got to go back to the bridge. I trust you can figure out where to go from here?”

“Of course,” Rex said with a nod, “I’ll go back to Coruscant and wait to tell Skywalker and see what he thinks about it.”

“Good. We’re almost done out here and will be heading out to Coruscant soon, so I’ll speak to him as well once we’re there,” Cody said. 

He left the room. Rex stood in the middle of it, hands on his hips, thinking.

He realized with a start that for the first time since he’d died and become a ghost, he didn’t feel useless. He was helping the people he cared about— the Jedi, his brothers— even from beyond the grave.

He thought that, perhaps, being a ghost really  _did_ have some merits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo! Echo! My child! This little plot point here is one of the main things that I’ve been waiting to get to in this au— really excited that it’s here now. 
> 
> Not much to say today! I hope you enjoyed! I’m on tumblr at ameanstoanendor, come talk to me!


End file.
